


To Beat A Machine

by MoonstoneAlchemist, Undercoverfungo



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), D.I.C.E. - Freeform, D.I.C.E. all live together, D.I.C.E. members are characters from games, D.I.C.E. runs amok... kinda, Feels, IMPORTANT - Characters that appear will be added to tags, In a way, Kinda, M/M, Multi, Mystery, Nervous Saihara Shuichi, Oma Kokichi Is a Little Shit, Oma Kokichi Needs a Hug, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi-centric, Pre-Game Oma Kokichi, Shuichi wants to seriously unravel the past, Slow Build, Slow Burn, actual detective shuichi, almost no beta we die like men, attempted humor, au actual D.I.C.E., emotional support roomies, kokichi has been through A LOT, lots of characters, minor OCs - Freeform, shuichi learns to gain confidence, slight eating disorder, the pit of despair type of experiment, world building, younger kokichi is basically pre-game kokichi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:35:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 42
Words: 294,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonstoneAlchemist/pseuds/MoonstoneAlchemist, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Undercoverfungo/pseuds/Undercoverfungo
Summary: Being transferred to Towa Town isn't easy. Thankfully Shuichi bunks in with two of is old friends and has a superior detective to watch over him. But... When learning of a notorious gang called D.I.C.E. that somewhat plagues the town, Shuichi can't stay away with wanting to know their odd behavior.And it's not just D.I.C.E. that peeks his curiosity. No, that is filled in by a waiter who goes by Kokichi, who constantly lies.There's plenty of distinctions with Kokichi and D.I.C.E.'s leader, but there's also so many gaps to fill in.And Shuichi wants to know these gaps and this Kokichi guy. If getting closer to the little trouble-maker, maybe he can uncover why he keeps lying, what D.I.C.E. is about, and what really happened in this small town...
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Amami Rantaro, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Hinata Hajime/Nanami Chiaki, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 32
Kudos: 151





	1. In This Town We Call Home

The big day was finally set into motion in winter as a woman in her mid-twenties poked her head out of a purple scarf, letting it be covered by a lighter hue of purple from her hair. She was sending off one of the best detectives she had worked with. The girl looked to the train station's clock, knowing it'd be arriving soon. " Still can't believe you achieved the highest arrest record for any agency in this city. Well, besides, sustaining an injury by a man dressed as Father Christmas. Wish you luck on your hand getting better." She glanced to a slightly younger boy who was bundled up as well, hiding his eyes under a hat while a hand was bandaged up. " Again, I find it stupid how the chief is afraid you'd put the others out of the job. Pity..." She gave a small smile. " Anyways, I'm sure you'll be fine over there. They even set you a place to stay at." She handed him a paper with an address. " Your new partner, or rather supervisor is named Hajime Hinata. I've heard a bit about him, good man. A bit nettled in the past, but good man all together. So, Shuichi, have anything to say before we part ways?" 

Standing at the train station, his shoulders were hiked up slightly from the cold air that had surrounded him and the woman in front of him. He has listened to her words, pulling his ‘good hand’ out of his coat pocket and grabbing the piece of paper that was handed to him. His other bandaged hand stayed safely by his side with a loose mitten covering it. He glanced up through his hat, a small smile on his lips. He wasn’t good at saying goodbye, or really a lot of interactions. But since he had known her for a while, he could manage just a bit more than usual. “ Um...” He spoke, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. “ Well. I had a lot of f-fun working with you! I may have gotten the highest arrest record... but honestly I don’t think I could have done it without y-you.” 

The slightly monotone woman nodded in agreement, " It was fairly interesting to say the least. And there's no need to flatter me, we both worked well. But that's in the past sadly." She took a small step forward and wrapping her arm around the younger detective. She gave a small sigh of remorse as she held onto the other for a short while before stepping away and going back into her original demeanor. A gloved hand lifts to her lips, letting out a small cough to regain her uncharacteristic composure. " Never tell anyone I hugged you, or I'll never hear the end of it." She said rather coldly, but the other knew it was in good intentions. " I wish you luck as well, be careful and try to build up some confidence over there, okay?" Her gloved hand extended to prop up his hat a bit so he could see a gentle smile before the train's whistle blew. " I'll call you soon enough." 

The shy boy was more than a little schooled when the monotone woman had pulled him in for a hug but found that he enjoyed the change of pace coming to her. He found himself silently chuckling when she had coughed to regain her composure, then threatening him afterwards. At the mention of building confidence, he had opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted when the train whistle blew. He closed his mouth, giving her a soft smile when she had tilted his hat up. He then nodded “ Okay, I’ll look for a call s-soon then.” He took a step back, bowing his head softly as a goodbye followed by a wave of his hand. He then turned his back towards her, stuffing the address he was given into his pocket and making his way towards the train that had pulled into the station. A long while took place as he was alone with his thoughts along the ride. And unfortunately, it took a while for the young man to finally arrive at his destination while being on board with so many people that seemed to be tourists than actual workers entering the town as he got off the train. Thankfully, someone gave out maps to the small crowd of people, including him, having various locations marked down, as well as streets and what not. 

On his way to where he would be staying, he couldn't help but notice an interesting sight before him. Several men were trying to help to help another who was currently hung upside-down from a tree by a rope around his ankle. The rope seemed to have several balloons attached to it, as well as deflated ones that were poked by the branches. What was stranger was that the man who hung there flailed about to get a horse headed mask off, seemingly like it was stuck to the neck of his shirt. " I swear, when I see those little bastards-!" 

While he had been walking towards his new place, he had caught a glimpse of the unusual moment. The seemingly... childish way the man was hung upside down by a rope bound to his ankle. But of course, he couldn’t just idly stand by when a man who was seemingly...attacked? By someone. He could only assume, based on the fact that he looked angry and was tied upside down with a horse head mask to top it off. He quickly made his way over to the scene, watching as the men had helped the man down from the tree and had pried the horse headed mask off of his head. He went up to the man, taking a deep breath to soothe his nerves and tugging at his hat before talking “ S-Sir, do you mind telling me what exactly happened here?” 

One man with a cleaned white uniform, very pointed hair, red piercing eyes, and rather large eyebrows looked over to Shuichi and quickly saluted him, making the others yell at him for turning away. He soon went back to helping the others and nervously chuckled. " Aherm, hello there new citizen or tourist! This sometimes happens around here, as some pranksters known by D.I.C.E often trip us officers up, we look away for five minutes and well things like this happen!" He was not a very quiet or a subtle officer... Would Shuichi have to deal with him? It seemed only one other official officer was in the group, someone to be wearing some black boxy armor, white pointed out hair, and possibly something other than skin enveloping him. The other people seemed to be passerby's who lived in the town, as they tried helping the man hanging upside down. " Hold still Hinata, almost there!" The man in white called out before removing the horse headed mask. The man under it was a brown headed boy with slightly tired eyes wincing from the sudden light, but most of all seemed none too pleased. 

Shuichi was slightly baffled and caught off guard by the loud demeanor of the gentleman in the white but nonetheless had listened to what he had said. When he went over to pry the horse mask off of the man, he had heard the name he was called. He widened his eyes, the name sparking a memory in his mind. He tugged on his hat, pulling it over his eyes slightly while he walked over to the disgruntled man. He bit his lip before mumbling “ I-I’m sorry, this might not be a very good time to be asking about this, but...” He paused slightly “ Are-Are you by chance Hajime Hinata...?” 

The tired man groaned before looking to the other, " Huh? Yeah, I am... How do you know my name?" 

The man in white gasped, looking to the new citizen and back to his friend hanging upside-down, " Do you have a long-lost brother?!" 

" Shu-Shut up Taka!" Hajime began to flail and finally dropped onto his back and into the cold frosted ground. He slowly got up cursing a bit here and there before thanking the people who help cut him down as they returned to what they were originally doing. It was odd... The people around here seemed somewhat use to this type of situation and saw it as just another daily obstacle in their life. 

Shuichi took in the actions of the others who had helped the man down, making mental notes on how they had casually they had took the whole thing. Like it was normal. He watched as Hajime gotten himself up, holding out his injured hand to shake. He then jumped in embarrassment, holding out his other non-injured hand. He looked at him under his hat, a soft smile on his lips “ My-My name is Shuichi Saihara!” He spoke “ I w-was transferred here to work with you…” 

The older detective was fairly close to shaking the injured hand, not being able to acknowledge it as Shuichi hurriedly put out his other hand instead. He shook off the sudden statement from Shuichi and shook, " Oh? Interesting, thought you were working here tomorrow. But besides that, it's good to meet you." He scanned the other up and down, noticing his hat before giving a smile," So you're my new partner? Kirigiri kept telling the chief how amazing you are with detective work. Oh right-these two are your new fellow officers, Kiyotaka Ishimaru and K1-BO, also known as Kiibo." Shuichi was greeted by another salute from the man in white. 

Kiibo was standing next to the other dark-haired officer in white, looking towards Shuichi with a nod. “ It is very nice to meet you.” Kiibo spoke towards Shuichi. Shuichi nodded in response, a soft and shy smile on his face as his other fellow officers had greeted him. He then looked back towards Hinata, starting to explain why he was with him at the moment rather than tomorrow “ Well...I-I was walking by on my way to the place I was staying when I had saw what was going on. I decided that it would be best to try and figure out w-what was going on instead of standing idly by...” 

Hajime looked at him, nodding a bit, " Yeah it is quite an odd sight to see if you're not from here. But, yeah. We tend to get tripped up like Taka said. They're the towns local gang I guess you could say." He shifted around to cross his arms before staring at the balloons dangling down the tree's hardy branch. " They range from petty pranks to theft of valuables. Strike whenever they want, be it night or day. Hell, we don't even know how many of them there really are. Unless it's the same ones but with different masks." He sighed a bit, " I'll give them some credit since they tend to carry around what would be voice modifiers under those masks or near their mouths. Not sure how they got hold of that technology." His expression changed to being a bit annoyed while Ishimaru climbed up the tree to let loose the ropes due that being littering, and he just couldn't stand that happening on his watch. However, it was at that moment another sight caught his eyes, seeing the bandages around the other hand. " Yeesh, that looks like it was painful. Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt as long as I'm watching over you." 

Shuichi had listened intently when he was explained the situation and the ‘norm’ about what was going on with the local gang. He found the whole situation intriguing to say the least and it got the cogs in his mind turning as he thought of all the possible ways the case could unfurl. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts when the bandage around his hand was commented on. He scratched the back of his neck while glancing over to the side “ W-Well, that’s reassuring to hear I guess…” Hajime chuckled a bit. He seemed like he wanted to pat Shuichi's shoulder, but judging Shuichi's slight avoidance at looking to the side, he rather not risk it. 

While the other three talked to one another about the bizarre incident, something in Shuichi's peripheral vision caught his attention for a split second. Across the street from them stood someone with a festive fox mask, with a color scheme of being split down the middle one side white and the other black, with a red demonic eye. They wore what appeared to be an old loose straight jacket, slightly modified, along with the pants of someone in a mental institution, the same pearly white type of cloth as the jacket. With a dictator hat over their hair, the mask tilted it's head slowly and awkwardly, letting the mask smile at him with a painted grin. of cheekiness and razor teeth on the blackened side. 

Shuichi had looked over to Hajime as the three talked, but then something had caught his eye. He looked off to the side, turning his body as well. He squinted softly when he had seen the person standing across the street, trying to get a good sight of that they looked like and the outfit they were wearing. It was definitely not something someone would wear normally during the day. Could the masked individual... be a part of what had just happened? He took a few steps forward hesitantly as he started to walk towards the masked person, eventually his stride quickening to try and reach him before he could leave. 

It took a moment for the others to process it, but soon they started to scout around for their new team member. Hajime became a bit unsettled, losing his composure for the most part, he hadn't even been with the new guy for more than five minutes and he was gone! " Ah shit-Shuichi?!" 

With Shuichi on the other side of the street, muffled yells were going on in the back behind him. The masked person soon dashed off as soon as the new detective got close and eventually across the street. The masked perp ran past several small obstacles from crates to window shoppers, then twisted down the corner of one of the streets, almost... happily, like they were prancing like a child about to be tagged. He had barely heard the muffled yells and cries after him as he had gotten closer to the masked figure. He then watched as the perp dashed away from him, Shuichi’s eyes widening as he ran. He was definitely a part of this them. And he really didn’t like letting suspects get away... completely oblivious to the yells, he had started to dash down the street to follow the masked person. He tried to avoid bumping into things and people as much as he could, apologizing whenever he did lightly graze someone. 

Once Shuichi skidded to the curve of the street, the sight of the masked person was gone. No one that was down the sidewalk strolling along the street's various shops and store looked like the figure he had just chased. No one of the same height, no mask left behind, no jacket, no hat nothing... Although a small black and white card was left on the cold brittle ground. Confused and a little frustrated, he picked up the card, examining it closely. It read out, ' Strike at night, at nine o clock, the library will not have the book in stock.' A picture of a bear's head was on the card smiling with the same eerie red eye. It seemed to have no fingerprints and smelled a bit like gasoline... It appeared that the masked individual had left him some sort of calling card. 

Shuichi had internally cursed when he couldn’t find the figure anywhere in the crowd, like he had disappeared. But he had seen the card sticking out like a sore thumb on the frozen ground. He went over towards it, crouching down and picking it up with his non-bandaged hand. He read it over, then analyzing the contents. Holding it close to his face, he also noticed the scent of gasoline. It wasn’t the first time Shuichi had smelt this before, knowing it was probably used to erase any traces of fingerprints. He had just stood there, thinking about what the contents of the card were about. He knew it was potentially an accident, a card slipping out of a cot or a pocket. But there always was the chance that it was intentional. The contents of the card perplexed him slightly, wanting to know if he could trust it. 

The detective then realized that that yelling was closing in on him. All three came running over to him, thankfully Ishimaru had seemed to be paying more attention from so high up, letting the other two follow after their new addition to the force. Hajime with Kiibo came nearly running into Shuichi, sliding around the glossy sidewalk until he stopped before tripping into him, " Whew! There you are! What happen? You took off in a sprint!" Hajime asked rather worried, unfortunately slipping on the ice and hissing in pain now that his back ached more. 

Shuichi turned around, looking towards the two of them who had followed him all the way to where the chase had led him. “ You were gone so suddenly without any indication of where you were taking off to either, you had us concerned” Kiibo spoke. 

He blinked softly, only now just realizing how his actions may have concerned the others. He stuffed the card into his pocket, reaching out to help Hajime off the ground with an awkward and embarrassed look on his face. “ Um… s-sorry...” He spoke “ I thought I saw someone suspicious looking over at us s-so I had to follow him. Especially when he started to run away...” 

" Ah, it's fine r-really." Hajime gave out a soft sigh, rubbing his back gently from the sudden burn he got from the harsh landing and running. " Anything to report on them? Size, what they were wearing, any possible clues and or evidence." He scratched his own cheek a bit, " You know, the tell-tell signs and what not, could be one of DICE." He groaned a bit. It seemed like they were either a daily or weekly type of thing that no one looked forward too but had to due to the job they upheld. 

Shuichi thought for a moment, recalling all of the details he could about the person in the mask. Which wasn’t very hard for him, when something caught his eye, he tended to remember it. “ Well...th-the person wore what seemed to look like a modified straight jacket, along with pants that looked like they came from a mental institution, with the same type of fabric for the jacket. They also had a black hat on top of their head, gold trim, and a half and half black and white ma-mask with a painted grin on it with painted sharp teeth on the darker side...The person was pretty agile when escaping and seemed to be of a smaller stature than the crowd...” 

Hajime instantly scoured around the area, seeming even more worried than before, " Oh god... Damnit-shit-Sorry. But it seems that you've just met their leader. The bastard always drops down some type of calling card. They like to draw us out and give us some advice on what they're about to do or go after. I presume it's because they find it 'fun'..." He knelt down, shuffling some of the ice to catch any note left behind, squinting around to look for any evidence. " They normally do help out, guess it's them wanting to play fair." 

Shuichi listened to Hajime’s explanation, widening his eyes slightly at the mention of meeting their leader. He then remembered the calling card he had picked up off the ground and how it was safely nestled into his pocket. He slowly pulled the card out and showed it to Hajime. “ I guess this is the calling card y-you were talking about?” He asked, walking towards him, and handing it out towards him. 

The older detective got up and took the card. He had nearly screeched, before his expression turned into a harsh and bitter glare, " Oh damnit. Of course, they'd strike tonight, since some masterwork of some old book is hitting the library for people to read. I'm sorry Shuichi, but considering you're not in officially, you are a civilian at the moment. You can't come with, so, I suggest you go to where you were heading to and be careful." Hajime ordered gently. " Thank you for letting us know about this. This is big... Real big. Kiibo, call in the chief, I'll go get Taka." 

Kiibo nodded quickly in response to Hajime, pulling out his cellphone and starting to call the chief and stepping off to the side to try and keep confidentiality. Shuichi was disappointed when Hajime had told him he couldn’t come along with them. But...he had the information from the card memorized so if push did come to shove...but of course he wouldn’t say that to Hajime. He nodded, pulling his hat over his eyes slightly. “ Okay. Well... i-it was nice to meet you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” He spoke, before turning away and waving to him slightly and starting to head in the direction he had come from. The brunette gave a quick nod and a small apologetic smile, sending him off on his way. Thankfully as Shuichi asked about the address Kirigiri gave him, his new supervisor told him the way and directions to get there. It wasn't too long away, as he was greeted by a relatively large cozy home, that looked more inviting and warmer than the streets of ice. 

Kaede, who had been prepping ever since she heard her childhood friend was coming over to stay, was literally filled to the brim with nothing but Joy. While Kaito, was lounging on the couch for quite some time after the preparations were set, catching a wink or two before his late night work. Kaede was running all about the house, humming happily to the melody of one of her favorites on the piano as she had got the place ready and filled with joy. She went over to Kaito, putting her hands on her hips. “Come on Kaito, he’s going to be here any second now! You can take a nap after he gets here!” 

Kaito scrambled a bit as he was close to falling asleep, " AH! I'm awake, I'm awake!" He watched her skip past him and open the front door, making the purple haired male shudder from the sudden chill of cool air pouring in from the door's crack. " Ah-Jesus woman, ya' could'a warned me!" He curled up into a ball, snatching up a blanket to throw around him, but stopped as his eyes see his old friend like Kaede. " SHUICHI!" He quickly sat up, giving himself a slight case of vertigo from the sudden rush of blood to his head, " Ahh!" He rubbed his head, silently cursing to himself from making himself get dizzy and just being stupid in general. 

Shuichi had walked down the sidewalk, holding the address in his hands while looking at the numbers of the houses. He kept glancing from the paper to the house numbers, until he eventually had gotten to the place he was looking for. He looked up and inspected the outside from under his hat, taking a deep breath. Kaede had opened the front door, seeing Shuichi out in the walkway up to the door. “ Shuichi!” She shouted with Kaito, grabbing the non-bandaged hand and pulling him into the house quickly. Shuichi gasped slightly as he was pulled inside, slightly disoriented from it. Kaede giggled and wasted no time to hug him, smiling happily. “ It’s so nice to see you!” She spoke. 

Shuichi had an embarrassed look on his face from the closeness of the hug, pulling his hat down slightly. “ U-Um, yeah!” He was… shocked to say the least. He hadn’t known the house would be home to his old friends. He was instantly filled with comfort and safety. 

It was even worse due to the 'astronaut' in training hopped from the couch and ran over, grabbing hold of them both in one swing, picking them up and smiling brightly like how he use to in the earlier days of childhood. " The gang is all back, hahaha! It's good to have ya' back man!" He exclaimed before putting them down and closing the door. " Oh hey ya' still got your hat! God I've missed my sidekick!" He chuckled before releasing them both before slumping back onto the couch, letting his friend take a seat. 

Shuichi had stood at the door seconds after Kaito had let the both of them go, slightly shocked from all of the immediate attention he had received from the both of them. Kaede has noticed this, giggling softly, and reaching out towards Shuichi’s bandaged hand. She then stopped herself, realizing it was United before grabbing onto it and reaching for the other hand then grabbing onto it. “ Come on, let’s just sit and chat.” She gently guided him over towards the couch, sitting on the other side of the couch and patting the spot between her and Kaito. Shuichi nodded slightly, taking his coat off and such before sitting between the both of them. 

Kaito put his arms behind his head and grinned like he use to. The grin of idiocy as it was called back when they were children." Ah, so, lemme' fill ya' in. I'm still training to be an astronaut, meanwhile Kaede has gotten much more luck, snaggin' a pianist job down by the theater! Playin' wonderful musical composure for those actors!" He gave a big toothy smile to his friend; incredibly happy she was able to land that job. " But for the meantime, I work at the museum as the guy who does that star ceiling thing, and as the night guard. How about you? Haven't heard from you in a while, ya' musta' been busy." 

Kaito’s child-like smile was very contagious, so Shuichi couldn’t help but smile as well. A relatively small and meek smile though, but a smile, nonetheless. He listed as Kaito explained what had been going on in their lives and thought for a moment before replying to Kaito’s question. “ Well...I’ve been busy with a detective job I had landed. Um... I a-actually had the highest arrest record for any agency of the city I was previously working at... b-but I had gotten sent away because of it, so now I’m here with another detective job...!” 

Kaede looked over at Shuichi’s bandaged hand “ Hey, is your work what caused your hand to break?” 

Shuichi used his good hand to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment “ Ah, y-yeah, but that’s kind of a long story...” 

The taller male went up to fetch his old friend some hot cocoa that had been cooling off from earlier before coming back to put his two cents in, " Holy shit! Dude! You handled the highest arrest rate?! Wow... Whooping ass of justice by solving heinous crimes really was your go-to huh?" Kaito put the tray of mugs down onto the coffee table and pounded his fists together, giving a hardy and determined look in Shuichi's eyes. " Didn't I tell ya' since we were kids?! You're goin' to do great things! I knew it the very first time I metcha' and you found out who stole my juice box!" He stopped as his eyes narrowed in on the hand and frowned, " Damn man... Wish I had been there." Kaito was always the guy who acted first, thought second, as well as stick up for his friends. Seeing the sudden bandages made him bitter inside, but he wouldn't show it... Or at least try to. 

Shuichi looked over at the tray that Kaito had brought into the room. Kaede was the first to act, picking up one of the mugs and handing it over to Shuichi. Shuichi took the warm drink with his non-bandaged hand, smiling as Kaito had spoken. He then looked up towards him, the soft smile on his face more directed towards him. “ W-Well, I’m sure if you were there you would have been a big help,” Shuichi spoke “And I wouldn’t have h-had this broken hand...!” Kaede giggled “It’s the thought that counts!” 

Kaito then plopped down on the couch, leaning over to take one of the warmed mugs, bringing it to his lips. " If I'd have been there, I'm sure I'd have to be held back from punching whoever did that to ya'. But besides that and what not, welcome to Towa Town man. Not as extravagant as your old place, but it's got it's charm... And er, it's problems..." He rubbed the back of his neck, hating to admit the place he lived in had many up and downs which seemed to swivel and weave into one another. 

Shuichi nodded softly at Kaito’s comment, know knowing part of the town’s problems after having witnessed it first-hand himself. “I don’t think I can go into much about it, but I did experience something odd. I also happened to meet some of the people I would be working with as a result.” Kaede reached over and grabbed a mug for herself, sipping on it slightly before replying to Shuichi. “ Gosh, well that’s a....warm welcome I guess? More like an accurate welcome. Let me guess, someone was made to look ridiculous in public or something?” 

Shuichi thought it over for a minute, a shy grin on his face “ Ah, I-I guess you could call it that...” 

Kaito huffed slightly, " Ahh, right, D.I.C.E... Yeah, they've been pullin' all sorts of shit for about two and a half years by now. Dunno' where they came from, who they are, or where they live. All we know is that they're pranksters and thieves. Strangely though, no one has actually been harmed by them. Tch, one time I was sick and had to work, they left me soup and a blanket..." He looked into his mug as a marshmallow foamed in the chocolate, furrowing his brows, " Even left a 'get well' card. Gave it to the police, but no fingerprints were found, said it was dunked in gasoline, erasing any prints." He shook his head, thinking about the odd antics. " It's like if a robber snuck into your house and fed your cat before stealing something and leaving by closing the front door..." What type of public nuisance gang was Shuichi getting himself into exactly? 

Shuichi kept in mind what Kaito had said to him, knowing he could store that information for some use later if he had kept up on the gang’s case. He took a sip of his hot chocolate before an idea running into his mind. Speaking of D.I.C.E. .... he looked around the room for a clock quickly, before glancing over to his watch. Was it really that time already? It seemed like it was getting close to the time that was written on the calling card he had found on the ground. Kaede saw what Shuichi was doing, raising a brow “ What’s up?” She asked “ You really have somewhere else to be on your first night of being here?” She asked. 

Shuichi had a nervous smile on his face “ W-Well, um, kind of...” 

However Kaito seemed to interject, " Shuichi ya' should come with me to the museum, our other roommate Maki won't be home till a while to visit me and it's gets kinda' lonesome over there. That way, I have someone to talk to for once, I can tell ya' about her before ya' meet her back here! Maybe she could pick ya up, don't need ya to be staying up too late." 

Shuichi bit his lip slightly, thinking about what he should do in this situation. Maybe Kaito was right...he probably shouldn’t defy the orders of Hajime on his unofficial first day with working with him. He looked towards Kaito, a soft smile on his face “ Y-Yeah, that sounds good.” He spoke towards him, the thought about the gang fading out of his mind. “When would we be leaving then?” He asked, taking another sip of the warm drink in his hand. Kaede smiles next to him, happy that Shuichi had seemed to put off other plans to be with his friends. The only thing she could think of him having to do would be work-related things and she really didn’t want him to overwork himself the moment he had gotten there... 

" In just a few then." After Kaito obliged to help-or rather forced himself to help Kaede with Shuichi's luggage, the two started to walk along the sidewalk outside, again under the cold crisp air, he smiled as Shuichi walked alongside him. Kaito put his arms behind the back of his head, looking up to the sky, knowing where to turn in time, " Don't worry, no need to drive. It's just a couple of blocks, good to get the blood pumping, and no car needed... Anyways, our other roommate is Maki. She tends to keep to herself, doesn't like to open up, and has the world's deathly glare I've eva' seen. But honestly, inside she's loyal, a trustworthy friend, makin' sure we're all okay. She'll be a bit hard on ya' at first, but don't be scared by her. And before ya' ask how is she at an orphanage, she's good with kids oddly enough." 

Shuichi had walked along side Kaito as they had started to walk towards the museum. Kaede had watched them as they left, shutting the door, and locking it behind her. Shuichi had taken in all of the information that Kaito was telling him about Maki. From the way she was describing her, and how much he knew about her, he suspected that Kaito had really enjoyed being with her. He chuckled when he had added the last part about being oddly good with kids. “ W-Well,” he started to speak “ She seems like a really good person f-from the way you’re describing her...!” 

" You bet she is!" Kaito sighed rather happily, seemingly like he found someone to possibly get together with. Though, it use to seem like he liked Kaede, but it seemed to be more of an older brother type. Now that Shuichi thought about it... He acted like a brother to him as well. Finally, they got to the doors, Kaito letting the other walk in to get out from the freezing air. " Here we are!" He was greeted by a large animatronic of a T-Rex with wide open jaws giving out a loud muffled roar as soon as he came in through the doors. The animatronic jolted a bit before going back into position to scare the wits out of any who dare enter. Shuichi had warmed up quickly when he stepped inside of the museum and out of the frozen air, looking up at the large t-Rex animatronic that had greeted him once he came in through the front doors. He stiffed up for a moment before settling down. He blinked slightly, definitely not expecting it. But it wasn’t enough to completely scare him out of his wits. Actually, he had smiled softly when it had happened. He could definitely tell why Kaito had taken a job here, and he was only here for a total of about thirty seconds. 

Kaito followed soon after, clicking his tongue and snapping a finger, " Damn. Thought I gotcha' with that. Ah oh well, was a good 'nuff try." It was just the type of kind and friendly gesture that made the goober so likable. The purple haired male smiled before heading over to a table and dimming the lights. He put on a jacket as his uniform for the night shift and pulled over a mic, pushing a button. " Attention, the place is now closing, please leave so I dun' suspect ya' as one of 'those' fella's. Thank ya' and have a nice night." The two watched as the lights dimmed and the visitors of the building had left. " Here we go. And since no one else is around..." A sneaking grin crossed Kaito's face as he grabbed hold of a well-protected taser and flashlight. " It's a rather pretty big place, and it's got a lot of interesting things. For instance, come along this way." He led the detective to a room with many soft cushioned chairs to stare upwards. On the ceiling was sparkled with lights and painted darkness. Kaito smiled and flipped a switch on to show off a man-made star-scape of colors and stars. 

Shuichi had followed Kaito to the room with cushioned chairs. He looked up towards the ceiling, amazed when Kaito had flipped the switch to reveal the space full of colors and stars. He found himself staring up at it, admiring how stunning and beautiful it had looked. He could stare at something like this for a while if he was being perfectly honest. “ T-That’s amazing...!” He spoke softly to Kaito, his hat naturally tilting backwards on his head as he was looking up, revealing his eyes and face more than usual. 

" Heh, I think so too... I like to just stare up at them for a while before making my rounds. There's not many stars out over here, but we probably have more than the big city. I sure hope ya' enjoy it here Shuichi." He seemed so relaxed and even mesmerized by the artificial colors the glowed upon them. Everything seemed to be peaceful and almost perfect. Shuichi was back with his friends, had a new job, a crystal-clear wipe on the new town. Kaito let out a happy sigh before closing his eyes for a moment. However, it didn't last any longer as the power shut down. " Oh, what the hell?" 

Shuichi was enjoying the bright and entrancing colors, that is until the power had suddenly shut down. His chest seemed to jump slightly at the sudden power loss, his natural instincts starting to jump into effect. He looked around the room, to see if they were the only ones there. “ Kaito, do y-you know if this building had a ba-backup generator?” He asked quickly. Just from his first impressions of this town, he was quick to jump to the conclusion that his wasn’t just any accident. 

Kaito groaned, getting up and turning on the flashlight, " Okay dude. Here... We do, but normally it'd be up by now. It might be on the fritz. But..." Shuichi was given a flashlight and a taser Kaito had on hand just in case he somehow lost or misplaced them somehow. " If it's what I think it is-" He was suddenly interrupted by circus music playing lowly across the speakers at an eerily slow pace. " Ahhh, shit." Kaito clenched his teeth tightly, almost to a grinding bit before carefully leading him out of the star gazing room and rushed to the main table's phone to pick it up, just in case there happen to be a little power left, only to receive a dead signal, " No signal." He swiftly took out his phone to call, but this time the screen glitched about, " Shit!" He pocketed back the phone and dashed to the front doors, unlocking them. He tried to open them, but they were stuck in place. " Shit, shit, shit!" He banged on the door and growled out, " Shuichi, I'm so sorry about this! We're going to need to turn on the backup generator. Don't worry, they most likely won't harm ya'. But this is the type of shit I deal with, with those goons." 

Shuichi had followed Kaito with whatever he was doing to try and contact someone or even just get out of the museum. He nodded slightly at Kaito’s reassurances before thinking of a couple of scenarios in his head while messing with the top of his hat. “ Okay, so where i-is the backup generator located? Also, is there any room or place besides the fr-front desk that can play audio throughout the speakers of the museum? If so, they’re probably located n-near there because of the music playing so we can try a-and stay away from them as much as possible...” 

Kaito muttered slightly, shaking his head, making his purple hair wave about, still in place " They've been able to hack the audio before remotely, could be from anywhere. Anyways the generators in the basement. I'd like to stick together, but I can't let those bastards steal something again! Here, take this key-card. Keep on your toes. I'll get ya' to the basement but then I hafta' go check everything." Kaito strove past some halls and kept close to his old friend, scanning everything as they walked by, making sure nothing had been taken. The eerie circus music was still somehow playing, even without the power being on. Kaito suddenly stopped in his tracks, a small sound catching him off guard. He swerved around to see a figure wearing a mask that of a reindeer with bells hung around their neck. They rattled the bells, soon running off. " H-HEY! Shuichi, down the hall to the right it's down some stairs in the aquarium room!" With that, Kaito dashed off after the culprit. Shuichi widened his eyes when Kaito had suddenly shouted, hearing the bells rattle slightly as well. He watched as Kaito started to dash off towards the culprit, opening his mouth and reaching out his hand. He really didn’t want to be separated from Kaito, but he knew it had to be done. He closed his mouth and lowered his hand, starting to head to where Kaito had told him to go. He went down the hall to his right, then saw a flight of stairs. He quickly made his way down the stairs.


	2. Nice To Meet 'Cha, Are You New In Town?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the little shit himself Shuichi... Oh and the leader too I guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, no D.I.C.E. masks here. Monokuma took care of that, branding them with his face. And no, Monokuma isn't alive/robotic, but he is significant.  
> Side note, Shuichi being transferred and having his hand cut is a shout-out to Hot Fuzz.  
> Also side note, Kaito in this has an Aussie accent due to me watching NicoB's LP.

For Shuichi's sake, the aquarium room was relatively lightened by black lights around the room and tanks of the fish occupying them, swimming around and going on about their lives happily and oblivious. The lights must have been there for a glow in the dark effect, so that whoever was on night duty could easily feed the nocturnal species. The blue hue bounced off some round tanks, making the room seem somewhat calmer without the music's tension. At least in the tranquility of it all, he was able to admire the aesthetics and marine life on display. The good news was that he did indeed find the small stairs leading to the basement. However, that was a shrouded by the bad news of someone standing right there in front of them, standing still much like a mannequin. They were a bit shorter than Shuichi, and a bit lithe in composure. Nothing was in their gloved hands, so they seemed to be disarmed for the moment. They tilted their head to the side, letting another mask of a reindeer look at the detective. It was the same mask... But this one had a bright red nose. Before he could react properly the figure rubbed the mask's chin curiously. " Are you lost? Oh! Or maybe you know, Mamato~?!" What Hajime had said was right, they spoke with some type of voice altering mic under the mask or maybe built in... It didn't make them sound demonic, just having a voice overlap the normal one. 

Shuichi had looked at the figure standing there in the aquarium room, quickly inspecting what their mask looked like, what their outfit looked like, and what their stature was. He also looked over them to see if they had any weapons in plain sight and just by looking, he didn’t find anything. He then sighed softly, regaining his composure. After all, from what he’s learned, he wouldn’t really get hurt, right? “ N-No, I’m n-not lost.” He spoke honestly “ I’m j-just here to turn the backup generator on.” 

The masked intruder stepped forward, watching him intently, but again, not in a threatening stance. " Ohhhh! Yeah, well, that's a real shame. See, I need it to be off, so you know the saying~! You shall not pass!" They giggled out before stroking the mask's chin again, letting the flashlight shine off the bright red nose. They suddenly snapped back to attention, "Oh hey, I know you! You're the guy who chased me earlier! Upupupu, maaan, I thought I'd have to wait another ten minutes for the three to finally notice me! Awww, I feel flattered!" This guy was going on a mile per minute like a child in a toy store... 

Shuichi had listened to the rantings of the person, noticing that if this was the same person from before, then they had gotten another mask. Or at least, another piece to add to the mask. He took a step forward as well, noticing his body language wasn’t very threatening. Shuichi had felt oddly safe in this station, taking in account the background of the group and the demeanor of the person in front of him. “ Well, unfortunately for y-you I’m going to need that generator to be on. What would you do if I tried to get past you right now? You don’t appear t-to be armed.” 

It was then when he was concentrating and thinking to himself that the shorter person took a chance and chuckled, " I take it that Mamato sent you to turn on the backup generator riiiight~? If so, I'll allow it and I won't call in my minions to take care of you, as long as you answer some questions! Oh right, right... I'm not armed... Or am I? It depends on what you think I could pull off." He pointed a finger to him, pretty demanding for someone smaller than Shuichi. " Oh and if you try anything funny, weeeeell~.... It won't end in a fun way." Suddenly that childlike energy was transferred into a solid cold threat... Maybe they did have a weapon on hand? 

Shuichi had raised a brow slightly when the childish energy was quickly changed into a cold threat. He felt nerves prick his chest, but he took a deep breath and sighed it out before looking at him. “ Well, h-he did send me here to turn in the generators, so I guess I’ll answer your questions.” He spoke, deciding to play along with them for now. He didn’t know for sure if they were armed after all and he sure as hell didn’t want to do anything too risky. 

" Hmmhmm~." They hummed out, " So what are you? A cop? Another 'astronaut'? Or maybe a new detective? I won't ask for a name because that's just ruins the fun in finding out! Upupupu~. So c'mon, c'mon answer quickly so I can ask you my other question." Again, they approached forward, devoid of any fear, noticing Shuichi's disposition. This guy was toying with him, but would he really hurt him? Hajime and Kaito had said they weren't violent. Was that a lie? And again, nothing was in their hands-but it wouldn’t be good to just out right attack the other. 

Shuichi had thought over the question in his mind, as well as what the other might be trying to do. Why were they asking him these questions? Why were they toying with him? Was it a trap, or a stall for time? Shuichi just didn’t know exactly at the moment. He also didn’t know if they were armed, despite the stories he had heard from Kaito and Hajime. He sighed, deciding that for now it would be best just to play along. “ A n-new night guard.” He spoke, trying to see if he could deceive the masked intruder. 

" Oh booo! Another smelly guard..." They sighed, " Oh well, can't blame a girl for trying to see if your interesting... Though, something does come off as different about you. I can't place my finger on it-" They cut themselves off and quickly bolted to Shuichi, snatching his arm while their nimble hand dug into his pockets, grabbing the taser. They clamped their small hand around his wrist then dropped the small but powerful weapon. It had happened all so damn fast. " Oooh, Momata gave you a toy! How lame." They kicked it away and held the stiff wrist slightly harder while their freed hand went to a strap on their back, reaching in a fanny pack or pocket of some sort and drawing a blade. " We know Momota carries around extra tasers. Learned that the hard way. But besides that... You really shouldn't lie to me. How do I know you are? Because no night guard would go after someone suspicious during the day and not somewhere, they wouldn't be working. Also, we always check if someone is going to be working as a guard anywhere, and with how Momota is-Upupup, he would have been talking about it~!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when the taser was taken out of his pocket, not being able to stop it from how fast they were moving. He winced softly as his wrist was grabbed, internally cursing at his broken hand making the grip all the more painful. He also was slightly impressed by how much the group had kept tabs on guards. Another piece of useful information that was unintentionally slipped. But he knew that he couldn’t really lie again, biting his lip slightly and glancing down at them. “ F-Fine, I’m a new detective. Just transferred today...” 

The person gasped out as a child feasting their eyes on presents on the day of Christmas, or however other people celebrate their religion. " A new detective?! Upupupupu! Ohhh, this'll be great! I certainly hope that you'll chase me! The others are so boring... Maybe you'll be fun..." They quieted down a bit when saying that last bit. " So, what happen to your hand?" Why was a perp wanting to know what happened to his hand? It wasn't even his concern anyways, and yet they seemed to care somewhat... The deer faced intruder scoffed and started to unwrap the bandages on Shuichi's hand. Once it was off they examined the nasty recent slice the detective had tried wrapping up. The person snuck their hand into the pocket that hid behind them and pulled out a disinfectant. Time seemed to slow down, it was so bizarre, why would a criminal do this? They sprayed the cut and retrieved a new strap of bandage from another pocket, wrapping it around his hand. " Tch, what shoddy job they did wrapping this on you. Here, now it's nice and secure." Time resumed after that, the other put away their spray and taking a step back, blade still in hand. 

Shuichi was at a loss for words when the masked criminal had taken not only an interest in what had happened to his hand, but had started to unwrap the bandages. He was just too stunned to even attempt to pull away. He watched as the disinfectant was put on his injury and when his hand was re-wrapped. He was extraordinarily confused and puzzled. He glanced down at his freshly bandaged hand, taking note of the relatively good job the masked figure had done. “ Um...” Shuichi spoke awkwardly “ T-Thanks...?” Criminal or not, the person had done something nice for him. He should at least say thanks... He then shook his head, regaining his focus and glancing back towards the masked figure. “ W-Why were you so concerned about my injury, though?“ 

The masked person huffed out, " Hey, I'm the one asking things around here! And besides, you didn't answer meeee!" And back to the child like non-sense, at this point they sounded like one whining out to the other. They pouted a bit before walking away from the detective who was slowly registering everything. The person leaned down to snatch the taser and fussed with it, finally making some sparks pop out. " Hmm... Well, maybe you'll answer if I have this~?" They slowly looked over; how could a Rudolph mask be so damn intimidating?! 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when the masked person had started to play and experiment with the taser, turning it on and such. He knew that it could probably go downhill quickly if he didn’t answer, judging from the child-like personality that was showing through. He replied slightly “ I-It was a result from an investigation! The culprit had attacked me!” 

" Tch, wow, they must have been really desperate or something. Any who~." They tossed the taser aside, kicking it away from them both. " Well it was nice to meet you Mister Detective. I hope to see you again. Wonder if you'll be able to catch me~?!" They giggled out again before the lights started to turn on. The small stairs that led to the basement opened up reveling another reindeer masked stranger. 

" Yo, Rudolph, we got what we needed, let's book i-" They stopped, looking over to the shy detective and got into a stance of fight or flight. 

The smaller masked person shot them a look, " Shuuuuuush Comet! Jeez! It's just a detective, nothing important! Come on!" The smaller ran over taking hold of the other's wrist and dashing off with them. The world finally came back from the oddness of the whole ordeal. Suddenly yelling was heard from far away, that sounded a lot like... Kaito. 

Shuichi had watched as another masked stranger started to dash away with the same masked person who he had been talking to for the past few minutes. He also noticed the lights turning back on, which was a plus, meaning he wouldn’t have to turn on the backup generator. Buuuut....he had heard them talking about getting something they needed. His thoughts were interrupted by yelling in the distance, instantly recognizing the voice as Kaito’s. He widened his eyes, quickly dashing towards the source of the yell, picking up the taser before he had left the room. 

He did indeed find Kaito... Who was tied by... what looked like wrapping paper, and messily drawn scribbles running down his face? " Well... Least they didn't get you. But hey, can you kinda' untie me o-or something." He sighed from the degrading fact that he looked so horribly silly. Once the detective started to help his old time friend, he couldn't help but notice how well the wrapping really was until he reached the third layer of the wrapping paper, which had been Hello Kitty themed all over Kaito's 'manly physique'. Judging by Shuichi's face, Kaito raised a brow, " What?" 

Shuichi hadn’t expected Kaito to be wrapped up in wrapping paper, so it was slightly shocking. But he guessed it made Kaito look... pretty silly. When he started to help Kaito out of the whole ensemble, he didn’t expect there to be so much wrapping paper. He definitely didn’t expect the sudden Hello Kitty theme to pop out either. His face contorted as he tried to hide a chuckle and a smile, mumbling out a soft “ N-Nothing!” As he pulled the brim of his hat down over his face to conceal a smile, still pulling off later upon later of wrapping paper until Kaito was completely free of it. 

Kaito stretched a bit but then noticed what had been on him," A-AWWW! Seriously?! Hello Kitty?! For the love of-ARGH!" Kaito groaned out before wrapping an arm around Shuichi's neck putting him in a non-painful headlock, rubbing his knuckles into his hat. " So that's why ya' were hiding under the hat! If anyone finds this out, then I'll hafta' train harder to prove how I'm a man!" Shuichi squeezed his eyes tightly when he was pulled into a friendly headlock by Kaito, chuckling softly by the reaction that Kaito has given off when he had found out about the wrapping paper. 

The goatee male chuckled slightly and let go, pulling his phone out which was now working and calling the police. Once he was done contacting them, he looked to his friend, " Did they do anything to ya'-huh?" He noticed the new and improved bandage around his friend's hand. 

He then stayed with him as he called the police, looking up at him when Kaito had asked him if they had done anything to him. “ Well...the only technically illegal thing that-that o-one of them did to me was implying a threat with a taser and a knife...” he spoke, trailing off at the end slightly before glancing to the side “ Bu-But, they also changed the bandage around m-my hand and put disinfectant on it...” 

" Hrm, I see, I see. Well, wouldn't be the first time. I ran into a door once and some of them stopped to see if I was okay. I tried tricking them after I got my senses back, but they all jumped away like fuckin' lemurs." What type of criminals were these...? " Just happy you're alright. Gotta' worry about my sidekick!" He gave a small bat to the back of Shuichi's shoulder, bringing up his old childhood nickname and waited for the police while Kaito called up Maki to come pick them up, knowing the police would be all over the place. Shuichi smiled when he was called his old nickname, finding that it made him happy and it brought back a lot of fun and warm memories. But the warm thoughts were soon replaced by his wandering thoughts to what had happened. What if Hajime had come with the police and had seen him here...? Would they really believe his story that it was just a coincidence, after he was told not to get involved in the whole ordeal until tomorrow? 

Fate seemed to be on the detective's side for the night, while cop cars assembled near the entrance, another car did is well. It wasn't premium, but it wasn't a rust bucket to say the least. Out stepped a woman wearing red, with a non-plused expression in her eyes as she walked over to them. Before she could say a thing Kaito patted Shuichi to her, " Heya Maki-Roll. This is the guy Kaede told ya' about. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta' tell the cops what happen real quick." He sighed into the air to show his breath and begrudgingly made his way to the small crowd. 

" Ugh, just don't start a fight with Towa again!" She called out. 

" I make no promises!" 

The girl groaned slightly, rubbing a temple of her head before looking at Shuichi. She crossed her arms and raised a brow, still expressionless, " Hello..." Shuichi had watched as Maki had approached them, and got a little flustered when Kaito had patting him forward towards her. He wasn’t very good at making first impressions, knowing very well that first impressions were crucial. But the thought about how crucial they were made his introduction a little wobbly. But still okay. 

Shuichi looked at Maki through under his hat, stretching out a hand to shake with her. “H-Hi...! My-My name’s Shuichi Saihara! It’s... It’s n-nice to meet you.” 

Maki leaned back against her car and looked over to the small crowd of officers before looking back to Shuichi. A small smile spread across her lips, noticing the nervous posture of the detective and carefully shook his hand. " Harukawa Maki and likewise. Sorry if I don't seem talkative, I've grown up in a rough patch, so don't make it personal. But it is nice to meet a friend that the other two talk about dearly... Also, you can stop shaking and fidgeting." Her gaze went back to the group, it was hard to deduct if she was just waiting for her friend, or if she was a tad worried. 

Shuichi had stiffened up slightly when Maki had told him that he could stop shaking and fidgeting, not even fully realize he was doing it. He gave a nervous smile, scratching the back of his neck “ S-Sorry...” His gaze looked towards where Maki was looking, trying to deduce what exactly she was thinking. He then thought for a second, before starting to reply “ H-He didn’t get hurt or anything...” He smiled slightly “ Don’t te-tell him I told you this, but when I found him he was wrapped up in Hello Kitty wrapping paper...just seeing someone as manly as him in something so pretty like that....” He chuckled slightly, remembering it. 

" Hrmf... He better not have..." Her crimson eyes locked onto Shuichi after being told the vital information and smirked, " Can't wait to tell Kaede about that." Maki's eyes averted away from the genuine goofiness he gave her about his childhood friends. She ran her fingers through some of her hair, doing her best to conceal any worry as they waited. Finally, after somewhat of a silent moment, Kaito trudged over, rubbing the back of his neck. " Wonderful, my boss is gonna' wig out along with her sibling." 

" Are you okay? Did they take something of actual value this time, or just another frame with no picture?" Maki raised a sharp brow. 

" Hrng, they stole some tiny statue of a dog for some ceremony. I don't know, something about my boss and her bro finding it under a seesaw in some abounded village. And for the last time, I'm fine." 

" You always say that... I'm going to check your medication when we get home. You had better be taking it, you know you have bad immunity." 

" Yes mooooom..." Kaito playfully rolled his eyes. Shuichi had watched the interaction between the both of them, simply observing and taking in what their normal interactions were like. It was amusing and heartwarming to say the least. Shuichi couldn’t place it, but something about the two had clicked slightly whenever they talked to the other. It was quite fun to watch. He also remembered Kaito when they were littler having weak immunity to things, stopping a lot of hang outs and such. He didn’t think it would last well into adulthood though, he hoped it had not have gotten worse either. 

Maki simply shook her head before leading the two into the car and driving off, letting the crime go about its casual procedure. In the car, she tossed Kaito a bag who questioned its contents to find some winter festive cookies inside. " Made those with the kids, help yourself." Kaito handed one to his friend before taking a bite out of one, and rightfully enjoying it. " So, Shuichi, I know it's your first day and all, and well weird things happened-then again that's what happens when you hang around Kaito." 

" HEY!" 

" Hm, but other than that, I know it's your first day, but how do you like Towa's Town?" Shuichi had chuckled softly when Maki had playfully bashed Kaito with her words, holding the cookie he was given in his hands. 

He thought over her question for a few seconds, humming in thought as he did so “ Hmm...” He recalled all that had happened that day and how much he had been through in less than a 24-hour period. He smiled softly before replying to Maki confidently “ I-I think I like it here. It might be just a little crazy and hectic... but tha-that just means there’s more cases to cr-crack and problems to solve.” 

She sighed lightly in content, " It can be... For example earlier I saw Hinata hanging upside-down in a horse mask." 

Kaito stopped his small glare at Maki, bursting out into laughter, " O-Ohoho my god! Holy shit-I-I wish I had seen that! Ahahaha-ohhh, man, that's good! Ahh, it'd been funnier if it had been Towa himself." 

Maki then spoke up again, " Ah, right, that reminds me. As you've might have guessed, Towa is the police department's chief. His father basically runs Towa City and this town with his two assistants. I believe one of his forefathers founded this town. And for the reason why Kaito and the chief don't get along is because Kaito is too damn stubborn to admit getting help, because he chases after that gang... And Towa is equally as stubborn to get help from anyone who doesn't have a badge." 

" I am not stubborn!" Maki looked at the window that viewed the two males in the back, Shuichi getting her eyes caught to his as if saying, 'back me up here'. Shuichi had seen the glance that Maki was giving him through the read-view mirror, reaching his hand up to tug his hat over his eyes a bit more. He wasn’t one to normally pick sides but... Maki was most definitely right in this situation. 

He glanced over at Maki from under his hat, a nervous smile on his face as he scratched as his cheek. “ Ah, I thi-think Maliki’s right on this one Kaito... you can be pretty stubborn.” 

His old friend rolled his eyes, " Oh thanks daaaad!" 

Maki simple shook her head again, " Kaito, you are.... Kaede told me when you were in the 3rd grade, you were too stubborn to ask the teacher for help, even when she offered it. Instead, you went on with the math question, occasionally asking me for extra pencils. When she got them back, all of the erasers were gnawed off and they were all sharpened to the point where you couldn't use them anymore." 

Kaito let out a small gasp, " I told you I was just hungry!" Shuichi gained a small earnest stifled laugh from Maki, which made him gasp out yet again. " Holy shit! It made her laugh!" 

Maki's small bit of joy subsided as she said in a cold voice, " Do you want to die...?" The car remained silent for a moment before Kaito cracked up again, having some back up by small chuckles from Maki. It was pretty bizarre, but then most things were in this town. Maki’s sudden change from laughter to death threats was surprising to Shuichi at first, but it hadn’t been the weirdest thing he had seen today. Not by a long shot. Pausing for a second after she said that, thinking to naught have been a serious threat. But, when he saw Maki and Kaito chuckling it off he chuckled slightly along with them after the threat had been made, simply enjoying the moment that the three of them were sharing. 

They finally got to the house where they were greeted by Kaeda with a warm welcome. She greeted in her usual, cheery tone. Kaede's warm smile widened when she felt the atmosphere of the three in front of her was giving off positive vibes. Kaito let out a heavy sigh, explaining what had happen and how the newest member of their roommates helped him, telling them about the odd occurrence. Maki stashed the cookies onto a table and furrowed her brows. " So... One of them actually talked to you? Threatened you? And then... gave you new bandages? Hrm, that is peculiar. I know they have done things like that to Kaito, but they hardly ever speak. Next time you should ask who they are. They won't tell you out right, but if you're lucky, you'll get the leader talking. I've only once spoke with them and Towa asked me so many questions on them... It was like he struck gold. But unfortunate, I didn't have much at the time." 

Kaito sighed and glanced at her friend's hand. The story was true. The once horribly bandaged hand now looked like it had been tended to with more care and time. " Yeah, apparently it's rare for the guy to talk to anyone-but going back to the track of those bandages is pretty odd, even for them." 

Shuichi had taken what his friends and roommates had said into consideration about the whole situation. He didn’t know if he had been lucky or unlucky to have been able to talk with one of the members of the gang for so long, let alone having them re-bandage his hand...He then spoke about the suggestions given to him “ Yeah, maybe if-if we do get to talk again I’ll ask them who they are...or at least try to get the leader of the group t-talking. I know from our conversation a few more useful things about the group that the masked person had let s-slip out either on purpose or an accident... It shouldn’t be that hard to get more information I think.” 

Maki gave a small slender smile, showing she did care, but tried to hide it for whatever reason, " Could possibly be because of winter. And they look like they did a fairly good job with the wrapping... Impressive, didn't think a bunch of jokesters were capable of actually patching wounds. Then again, I'm thankful they're not the ones who made it." 

Kaito sighed out, " Since you're gonna' be working for the police, you'll definitely run into them. Lil' shits strike least once a week with something...Well anyways, just lemme know if you or the department get any info on that dog statue Shuichi, that's all I ask for, nothing else." At that point it was probably a good idea to get a night's sleep from the bizarre day. 

Shuichi had nodded at Kaito’s request, a reassuring smile on his face before replying to him. “ Yeah, I’ll let you know once w-we know something about it.” 

Kaede then glanced at the three, smiling softly at how confident Shuichi’s smile seemed to be. It was a nice change of pace, that’s for sure. “ Okay, okay you three,” She started to speak. “ It’s probably a good time to get some sleep.” Shuichi looked over, nodding at Kaede. He said his good nights and headed towards where he would be sleeping, getting situation for the night.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the morning, Shuichi was up pretty early. It was a habit; he had done the same thing back at his old place as well. Usually he would wake up early and get an apple or something to eat before going to work. But...it was a pleasant change when he had walked into the kitchen and saw Kaede and Maki busy in the kitchen. “ G-Good morning...!” Shuichi spoke, a soft smile on his face. 

Kaede turned around, a knife in her hand while she smiled at Shuichi “Morning!” She exclaimed, pausing for a second from cutting up some fruit for a part of breakfast but not thinking to put down the knife. Or just simply forgetting to. 

As Kaede and Maki cooked breakfast for the occupants of the home, the sound of breakfast sausages sizzling against the pan was loud, but filled the home with a pleasant aroma. Maki had been setting the sausages on plates with the French Toast and eggs that she had prepared earlier in the morning. She told the other girl that she would clean up the dishes before heading out to the orphanage. " Ah, I see you've woken up before 'him'... Good, you don't have to deal with being greeted by Kaito's ‘daily morning training’." Before she could sit down, she closed her eyes and counted, knowing what would happen. " Three, two, one..." The three soon heard the stomping of feet, meaning Kaito was up and ready. She recalled the time when she first moved in, and that Kaito would run into her room and wake her up, letting her know the wake-up schedule he had insisted at the house. " Yup, there we go." 

A few minutes went by as Kaito came downstairs and gave Shuichi a thumbs up, " Hey sidekicks already up at 'em! Awesome! I was this close to waking ya' up buddy!" Shuichi was slightly baffled by the impeccable timing on Maki’s part of when Kaito would be actually up and ready to go. He looked over at Kaito when he walked into the kitchen, smiling at his comment. 

He was actually pretty glad that he had woken up before Kaito had then... he didn’t know if he would have liked to see how Kaito had woken people up in the morning. “ U-Uh, Yeah...!” Shuichi had replied. Kaede had watched the interaction between both Shuichi and Kaito, chuckling softly while she had put the fruit she had cut up into a large bowl followed by a big serving spoon so people could just take what they wanted and they could save the leftovers for later. 

Maki quietly spoke, "So..." She leaned against the table slightly, "Did all of you rest well?" 

Kaito chuckled, " Sure did! Also, Shuichi if ya' don't get up before me, ya' best get use to it, a hero needs his sidekick awake and intact." His gaze crossed to the pianist before taking a bite of his meal. Maki nodded before being preoccupied by her food, or rather just in thought. It was easy to tell her ears were clear to hear her friend's health of getting sleep. It was nice for Shuichi to be in a place where people had cared for one another. Prior to this, he lived by himself, having Kirigiri visit him every so often. His parents hadn't visited him, and he'd need to schedule time and days to visit them. 

Shuichi took a moment just to enjoy and soak in the atmosphere of the room compared to the stay in his last place. It was more comforting, relaxing. The cooked meal, the friends gathered around him, the conversation, the support that they gave each other. It was something he didn’t realize he had missed until now. He had a pure and happy smile on his face as he poked his fork into a piece of egg and ate it. His smile didn’t go unnoticed though, Kaede quickly picking up on it. She smiled brightly, seeing Shuichi’s genuine smile. “ Why so happy?” She had asked him. 

Shuichi jumped slightly, an embarrassed blush forming on his face “ A-Ah! It’s nothing...! 

Kaito gave a look as he started to feast on his own meal, " Ohoho! Look out! Shuichi's rare big smile has appeared! Better get a picture before it vanishes under the hat!" Maki who had been sitting closest to him gratefully smacked him in the back of the head for the newcomer's sake, earning a small 'HEY!'. This in turn only made the crimson eyed girl smirk in response. After some calming banter Shuichi was slowly lulled back into the happy feeling again. As they finished their food, Kaito got up and gave a large wide grin. That grin... he same he'd give after making any type of determined speech in the past to Shuichi in the older days. 

" Alright gang! Let's all do our best today!" He slammed his fists against one another, declaring that today would turn out great. 

Maki shook her head, " Heh, you big ham..." 

" THE BIGGEST!" Kaito boasted out. 

After rallying up his friends to give it their all, Shuichi found the police station wasn't horribly far away. Maki offered him a ride but getting some exercise wouldn't hurt him. Especially if he was going to be dealing with these quick thieves. As he approached, Hajime was waiting there outside, waving him over. " Hey, chief's busy talking to the Museum's curator. Wanted to know if you wanted to come with me while I go get some coffee from the restaurant, I go to down the street or not. I need some morning joe. It's your call." The poor guy looked fairly tired, probably from the break in last night. 

Shuichi looked at Hajime, definitely noticing how tired Hajime had looked this morning. He felt bad that he had to deal with the gang in the middle of the night, probably more than he had to.... He didn’t want to leave him on his own and also wanted to take this opportunity to get to know his coworker more. He nodded, a small smile on his face. “ U-Um, yeah! S-Sure!” He responded. 

His new superior walked along with him down the streets, " Had a rough night yesterday. If you were fully in, you'd have not gotten much sleep. And it'd been hell since it'd have been your first day. The gang we told you about struck the museum. Stole some dog statue and apparently wrapped up the guard there." It seemed that Kaito didn't tell anyone Shuichi was there with him, which could be a plus or not. " They really love messing with us. The museum's curator had handed out some book to the library for people to read over there. Thought they'd be after it, but nope, just a part of the whole set." He shook his head, opening up a nice glass door, letting the sudden warmth waft over Shuichi. Wondrous smells drifted to Shuichi. It had been a good thing he ate beforehand or else the enticing smell may have been too much. " Anyways, welcome to The Hanamaru's family diner." He said, shaking any coldness left on him. " Hey, Teruteru!" 

Shuichi had listened to his superior talk on about what he knew had happened at the museum last night, thankfully hat he didn’t know that Shuichi was there as well. He didn’t know if Hajime would be okay with that and he didn’t want to risk anything. Especially on his first day. He felt the warmth of the restaurant hit his face and the smell waft into his nose. If he wasn’t so full from breakfast he probably would have ordered a meal that was probably way too big for him. After Hajime’s greeting, a rather stout and pudgy man in chef attire had poked his head out of the large food window that connected the dining area to the kitchen. He grinned at Hajime “ Well, surprise, surprise, look who it is! Are you going to have your usual today? And oh look, it looks like you brought someone new along this time around!” 

Hajime chuckled, " Heh, sure am, you know me best." He cracked a smile and sat at a stool. The restaurant itself was moderately big enough for families, cleaned to almost a sparkling touch and had a homey kind of feeling. It was a type of mix of modern and the old drive in diners for truck stops, including a jukebox near the back. For the modern touch, there were some television screens showing movies, considering someone who worked here didn't care for the news or weather, or even sports... Unless it was a cooking contest. " This here's my new partner, Shuichi Saihara. Shuichi, this is the proud owner of this establishment, Teruteru Hanamura. He's a friend from high school. He outcooked our lunch ladies at least eight times. Teruteru, it's his first day on job, how about a nice welcoming cupcake, it's on me." Hajime winked over, making sure Shuichi would have a nice warm welcome into town due to the weirdness he knew Shuichi would find himself in soon enough. 

Shuichi was flattered by the fact that Hajime had offered, no, was going to buy him a cupcake, he assumed because it was his first day on the job. He also was fascinated by how good of a chef Hajime had worked him up to be, taking note that almost everyone in this town seemed to be really good at doing something. Or at least it seemed everyone in this town had something wildly unique about them. It was a nice change of pace and definitely fit with the whole weird vibe that the town had given off. Teruteru seemed happy to oblige, taking his chef’s hat off slightly and tilting it towards Hajime. “ One welcoming cupcake, coming right up!” He then disappeared into the kitchen again, going back to what he did best. 

Shuichi looked back at Hajime, adjusting his cap and pulling over his eyes slightly “ Th-Thanks..” 

Hajime made his small talk as he got a packet of sugar out from a small neat pack of them laying on a ceramic dish nearby, " Hey no problem. Towa's Towns not as massive as the one you came from, it's a bit more quint in a way. The more you live here, the more you get use to the locations, streets, people. It's like one of those places where some people know everyone here, but big enough to not be some place with a cult to be hidden away." He reached out grabbing a napkin for the two of them and sighed lightly under his breath. " If the boss gets upset with you, I'll talk him back down to Earth. He can be kind of crazy in a sense and scary at times, but it's in good intentions." 

" Pth, you're boss sucks and you know it~!" A voice called out to them from behind, making Hajime groan and lower his head down, propping his shoulders up. 

" Oh god no..." Hajime quietly let out. Shuichi had listened closely to Hajime as he explained the dynamic of the town and their boss, finding that it would probably be helpful to know these kinds of things if he was going to be a detective for the town. He then heard the sudden voice from behind and found that judging from Hajime’s reaction to it, that their person who the voice was coming from might be trouble. He glanced around at who had engaged in conversation with the both of them, tilting his hat slightly over his eyes. 

" Hello Kokichi..." Hajime groaned in utter defeat. Before he knew it, two big eyes peered over Hajime's side to look at him and the new detective. A Cheshire grin spread across their face wide. 

" Awwww don't be mean! You know how I love passing out food to the coppers! Ya' wanna' donut boy, ya' wanna donut~?!" The new person who had made Hajime shake in almost pure anger, was a much smaller boy with purple hair sticking out to the sides almost perfectly. He wore some type of restaurant attire similar to the round chef but with the colors almost clashing together, a somewhat vulgar shade of purple and orange stripped scarf and wore... roller skates. " Oh? Who’s this? OH! No, wait! Don't tell me... Boyfriend right, riiight? I knew you swung either way~!" He cackled out. 

" ARGH! NO! He's my new partner-" The new boy's smile grew, making Hajime rattle with anger, " Not. Like. That! He's a new detective!" 

" Oh, a rookie, huh? Tch, sounds boring. He'll probably just run around in circles like you than solve anything." He scoffed, rolling back, avoiding before Hajime could snatch him by the wrist or shirt. 

Shuichi was slightly caught off guard by the personality of Kokichi. He certainly fit in with the town, that was for sure. He took in the appearance of the stranger, also how it was like he knew just the right things to stomp on Hajime’s nerves. He had also gotten flustered when he was compared to be a boyfriend, and more embarrassed when said he would just run around in circles instead of doing detective work. He pulled his hat over his eyes slightly, glancing at the other from under it. He didn’t know why, but he had gotten a weird sense that he had met this strange person before. But he put it off immediately. Surely, he would remember meeting someone as peculiar and interesting as him. He didn’t exactly know what to say but knew that Hajime might explode any minute. So, he tried to get the attention pointed more towards himself. He looked up at Kokichi through the bottom of his hat “ M... M-My name’s Shuichi Saihara, i-it’s nice to meet you Kokichi...” He might as well try to make a good first impression, right? 

The purple haired boy grinned ear to ear, not expecting to get a name from the shy detective. " Ohhh! Why hello there Mister Detective! You're going to loooove this town. Well, if it doesn't eat you alive and spit you back out, leaving you out to die in the cold..." He said rather quickly before rolling himself into the kitchen and coming back out with a mug and plate. His movements were rather quick as he placed the dishes down and strayed away from Hajime. While Hajime had his coffee, Shuichi's cupcake had been topped with whipped cream, caramel drizzled on top, and chocolate shavings decorated the top. 

Once Hajime caught the sight of Teruteru's face from the opening he let out a happy sigh, thankful for the chef's brief reappearance, " Thank you Teruteru. How you manage him, I will never know." He seemingly muttered a bit under his breath. 

The short chef gave off a nervous chuckle, “ Heh, sometimes I don’t know how I do it either.” He reassured the detective before going back to fix up the kitchen, awaiting more customers ready for tasty food. 

While Hajime poured in the small packets of sugar and stirred the heavenly brew with a spoon, the mischievous waiter strolled over to Shuichi's side. " Oh, I'd watch that if I were you, those chocolate shavings are compacted rat feces I found the other day ago. I totally forgot to go to the store, so I just made do with what we had in the back~." 

Hajime grunted and glared daggers past Shuichi, " Stop your damn lying, and stop messing with him!" 

Kokichi backed away looking hurt, " Wow. I try my best to warn a new guy and you reject it so harshly." He seemed to be tearing up, water pricking at the corner of his eyes. However, all Hajime did was glare. It was at that instance Kokichi's devious smile grew back onto his face, " You're getting too good at finding me out. Okay, okay, that was a lie, they’re not rat droppings. But it's true I forgot to pick some up from the store the other day ago and Teruteru had to get them." 

Shuichi... didn’t really know how to react to all that was Kokichi at the moment. From the over the top lying, to how serious he was when talking about the town, the crocodile tears, it was just a lot to take in for a first meeting. But it didn’t exactly mean that he didn’t like Kokichi. In fact, he found Kokichi to be more interesting than irritating at the moment. Seeming to be the opposite of how Hajime was reacting to all of this. He looked up at Kokichi who had rolled up next to him, gazing up at his eyes through under his hat for a few seconds. Trying to put himself out there, like he had been told to do a few times before by various people, he decided to strike up conversation with him. “ S-S-So, whenever Hajime comes over do you usually try to annoy him?” He asked, no ill-intent behind his question at all. Just curiosity. “ B-Be... Because it seems like you’ve done it long enough to be able to know just the right spots to hit to make him re-really angry...” 

The waiter merely smiled and chuckled, elbow leaning on the counter, " Why of course not, why would I go out of my way to piss off hanky boy~?" Another glare was shot, Hajime considering him lucky how he was over to Shuichi's side and not his or in the middle of the two. " That's a lie, I really do love fucking with him. But! I do it all out of love." A quick middle finger was given by the brunette. " See? Pure, consideration of my friendliness. Now, as for just the right spots~..." His eyes squinted as a foxy grin grew, " You have no idea... In fact, I could point some obvious factors off you-" His eyes darted past Shuichi, seeing the other two about to get onto him. The grin fell to a smile and wink, " But I shan't, nishishishi~." 

Shuichi had listened to him as he spoke, noticing that he had spoken casually through lies that were almost clearly lies. At least, they were easy for him to read anyway. But when the waiter had mentioned some ‘obvious factors’ that could make him upset he was even more intrigued. What could he already have picked up on after they had onto just met? He raised a brow, starting to question the purple haired boy. “ Y-You won’t? Ah, shame...” He spoke “ I-I... I was interested in seeing what you had come up with for me. And if it would really get me irritated or not....” He decided to add a little bit on at the end, just to see if he would take the bait “ It-It is pretty hard to make me really angry or annoyed...”

Hajime's mouth went a gap before slowly raising both palms to his head and shaking it, as if to say, 'You've just doomed yourself'. The purple haired boy's grin quickly seeped back onto his face, " Weheheeeeell then~..." With a glint in his eyes, he sighed wistfully, " Judging by the way you keep pausing and stuttering your pretty damn shy. I suggest having some courage or you'll never get anywhere in this place. No one wants a lost sad little boy in the world. I'm gonna' just take a guess that your parents weren't too close to ya' huh? But at least being a detective will fill you with the needed attention, though more than likely not from them, because they're too busy strung up in their lives or... they’re elsewhere… Someone must have taught you though, so, some other family member, maybe a mentor? The constant averting your gaze and hiding under your hat like a coward only means that you're scared of things, but considering you wanted to peek my interest, you're trying to come out of there, but it's still unstable ground right? Either that or you're trying to hide away some type of mark or some shit that embarrasses you if someone focuses on it, making you curl up and feel ashamed... But that's just stupid. Maybe something went wrong on a case? Maybe someone's eyes locked onto yours and shattered you? Or maybe your hiding a sickened mind under it all? Maybe caught a whiff or reality and you're really just a scared child calling out for mommy and daddy? And if that's the case, you should know... No one will help you..." His voice went cold as the grin had progressively left before a smile peered up, " Buuuut, I think you're just shy and scared over new things and what could potentially happen~!" 

Shuichi had blinked slightly after Kokichi and went on and on about how he perceived Shuichi’s life to be. He... wasn’t very off. Not very off at all. Shuichi was impressed with how much Kokichi as able to pick out just from his words and actions alone. But that meant Shuichi had obtained some useful information about him as well. Shuichi gave a soft grin towards Kokichi, “Well... y-you’re not exactly wrong...” He then tilted his hat upwards slightly, something that he rarely did, gazing upwards towards Kokichi. “ B-But then that just gives me more information to tell what kind of person you are.” He cleared his throat softly before starting to speak in a semi-serious tone of voice. He sometimes did this when explaining a case. “ Since you were able to pick apart my insecurities so quickly I can only assume that either you have had a firsthand experience with picking people or yourself apart or that you’ve experienced the same things I have and or have gone through but just cope with it in a different way. To be accepted you fall back onto lying, if someone didn’t like what you had said you could easily just claim it was a lie and move on. You also probably have had issues with either authority figures or social groups not welcoming you or not giving you enough love, so you deep down want that connection so you do anything you can to make yourself noticed, such as outrageous lies. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did something else other than just lying when hanging out with friend groups, maybe pulling casual pranks. But not so severe to make them hate you. You’re like me in the way that we both are nervous about how others will perceive us, but we express that in very opposite ways. I, like you said, am afraid of the outcome of things while you manipulate said outcome into something that would benefit you.” Shuichi paused for a moment, slightly embarrassed by how long he had ranted for. He adjusted his hat, speaking, “ W-Well...th-that’s what I’m guessing at least...” 

The older detective slowly put his arms down and listened to his new partner, absolutely astonished in what Shuichi was able to gain from Kokichi's banter on him. Kokichi's eyes focused and locked onto Shuichi's as soon as the cap went up. The hyperactive liar didn't so much as blink, and had grown quiet with an expressionless lip plastered on his face. In an instant Kokichi looked down, backing away before lifting a hand to his head, cackling out as if he had just had the funniest joke ever told to him, " Ahahahaha! Nishishsi~!" He let loose a few more giggles before wiping a tear, " Ohoho... Oh... Oh man... That's good! Nishishi, you're fun! You're spot on if you we're right. Hehe-S-Sorry but you're very wrong on all-if not most of your statement. I think the doctors call it-oh what was it that they called me? ... A high functioning sociopath, but good on you for trying." He smirked, clapping his hand a few times. Suddenly a family came in and he was quick to act, rolling over to them, greeting them politely, showing them to a table, and even entertaining their children while the parents looked over the menu. He made the children happy by making the crayons for their childish menus appear out of nowhere. 

Shuichi had watched as Kokichi rolled over to the family that had just walked into the diner, an unsatisfied feeling lingering in his head. He didn’t know if he could really take Kokichi’s response to his analysis as the truth. For all he knows, he could have hit the nail on the head completely and Kokichi could have just been lying straight to his face. If he was lying, the over the top laugh and the instant dismissal of everything he said would make sense... He took a deep breath, internally sighing as he looked down at his cupcake again, starting to get out of the little moment he had before with the waiter. Then he looked back up at Hajime, an embarrassed smile on his face as he scratched his cheek with a finger softly “ O-Oh, um, sorry about that...” He spoke “ He’s just...interesting t-to say the least… A-And when I-I amylase something. I-I tend to… Yeah…” 

Hajime nodded as he sighed, " It's fine, really. It was impressive... More impressive than what the chief would have done..." He mumbled a bit. " Let's get going. Again, thanks Teruteru!" Hajime said, pulling out a leathery black wallet, digging his slender fingers into it to pull out some cash, setting it onto the bar counter like table, equally paying for Shuichi's mystery purchase. The chef meanwhile gave a thumbs up from the window. 

As they walked out, the snickering flowed back, " Nishishi, have a nice daaaay Hinata-kun~!" Kokichi was greeted by a middle finger as the tired detective walked out breathing out the warmth of coffee, making steam form in the air touching the surface of the breath. " Oh, and to you too Mister Detective." The smaller boy flashed a smirk to Shuichi, like he was scheming something... Shuichi followed Hajime out of the diner, looking over towards Kokichi as he said his goodbyes. There was something about the smirk that the purple haired waiter had given him that made him feel a little on edge. But, he quickly dismissed it and waved to Kokichi with his bandaged hand that had been changed last night by one of the gang members. He hadn’t changed it just quite yet, even though he knew he probably should have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi is a good guesser... and some of that is actually him projecting himself off Shuichi, focusing on his own past for this story. This stories Kokichi's past... oh boy.


	3. I'm Just A Random Boy, Gentle Manners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will find you 8D - Sincerely Angie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry no Kokichi this chap ;w;'

Once they exited, Hajime's warm breath collided with the crisp weather even more since he had taken more sips to wake up, " Sorry about that. He's not a bad kid, just a compulsive liar. Though... Boss has had one or two good punches to him. Took me, Taka, and Kiibo to hold him back. But that was before he was appointed chief." 

The younger of the two followed Hajime out into the cold, listening to him talk about their boss’s interaction with Kokichi, “ S-Sounds like he causes you guys a bunch of trouble...” He wasn’t exactly surprised... The waiter seemed to make a lot of people angry and upset just for fun. That aspect of him kind of reminded Shuichi of the actions of D.I.C.E, upsetting people for what seemed like amusement. His mind stopped for a second as well his body, almost freezing in place, and a feeling he couldn’t describe washing over him. Now that he really thought about it, Hajime did mention to him before how small the town is. It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to assume that the people he met on the street, or at a diner perhaps, could be a member of the gang that was causing so much trouble. So, could the waiter really be a member of D.I.C.E? No, that couldn’t be... It was almost too obvious, the connection between his personality and the actions of the gang...yeah, it probably wasn’t the case. He was just overthinking things again. 

Hajime led him over to the police department sighing a bit, " Not really. You'd think, but nope. Course the chief says otherwise, but that's only because he keeps pestering him about how shitty he was with his job 'supposedly'... Kid's just a bit younger than me, so I was just starting out along with the others, while he was still in school. We had a real bad bully problem. Kokichi said the chief wasn't doing his job, not doing anything. Blamed him for not handling some bullies who said they could take care of his pet rabbit when it died. He was too broken up to bury it, and well, some fuckers told him they could help. Let's just say... there was some machinery involved, and that rabbit didn't get a proper burial due to being crushed... But once Towa became chief, the bullying stopped, trying to prove it to him. Kokichi still didn't trust him. Those bullies were only sent to juvie for about a month because the rabbit was already dead. Chief didn't believe him, but when he saw it, he couldn't do too terribly much, it didn't fully qualify under animal abuse, again it being dead already and such. Since then I think he grew into lying. Not sure. Maybe this was a lie, but it's what he told me, Taka, and Kiibo. Chief won't talk about it." 

Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts to listen to Hajime’s story, taking in all of the info he could about the person who had interested him so much. But... that just fueled the thoughts he had just a few seconds ago about if Kokichi had a relationship with the gang or not. That could potentially be a motive... but, it was unlikely. It probably would be very significant, that is if the Chief wasn’t lying. He would keep the possibility in the back of his mind until he had other evidence to prove otherwise. Maybe he was just overthinking things. Again. “ Hm... t-that’s pretty interesting.” He commented, trying to gently pry Hajime’s opinion out without trying to do it directly, keeping it descent and almost unnoticeable. “ If-If it’s just a case about some bullies and a rabbit, and wasn’t animal abuse as well as only getting a light stay in juvie, that he’d be m-more open to talk about it...” 

The brunette nodded, thinking, " Yeah, you'd think. He did talk quite a lot but eventually he got off track and distracted. At that point, all three of us had gotten a bit tired over ever little tiny insignificant detail and going into even more story off of one thing that wasn't even relevant... So, we just left it at that." 

As they went into the department's doors the young man in pristine white from yesterday peered over from talking to what Shuichi could only assume to somehow be a robot. He ran over and greeted them... Loudly." Good morning!" The young man from yesterday greeted them... Loudly. 

" AH! Oh-oh god... Jeez, Taka, every morning..." 

" Sorry I apologize, sir!" Ishimaru saluted them both. " Good morning Shuichi!" 

Shuichi was slightly startled by Taka’s loud greeting but giving a slightly less open reaction that Hajime had. Once he was greeted again, he smiled shyly and nodded. “ A-And a good morning to you, Taka...!” 

A few seconds after they had been greeted, Kiibo had also made his way behind Taka, walking up towards the three of them. “ Good morning Hajime, Shuichi.” He spoke, looking at the both of them, a soft smile on his face. Kiibo then took a file he was holding in his hand and handed it over to Hajime. “ This is all the information regarding last night’s ‘incident’ at the museum complied into one document, just like you asked for.” He spoke, getting right down to the business of the day. 

Ishimaru's energetic demeanor suddenly fell relatively quickly. He let out a defeated sigh, his large eyebrows curving into a worried expression. " It seems we were duped yet again by D.I.C.E. I do not know how they keep pulling these heists off! They just do it wherever, whenever and make us look like fools! We try so hard to preserve justice in this town it hurts my pride!" Annnd back to his casual talking... Maximum volume. 

Hajime nodded, taking the files, " Thanks Kiibo, and Taka it's fine, just relax or you'll just be all pent up." 

" Relaxing does not help any pent-up feelings! We all need to let it out somehow someway, it's much better than pining it up!" 

Hajime quickly spat out, " Because if you let it all out at once, you'll do something stupid, make a bet, and then pass out in a day spa." Ishimaru went quiet suddenly, averting his eyes and stiffening his posture more, a bit flustered. Hajime chuckled, " Sorry, inside joke. But I'm sure we'll be able to get some type of information." Shuichi flinched softly when Taka started to talk loudly again, listening to the talk between him and Hajime’s conversation. He was...slightly confused by the inside joke but quickly brushed it off. 

Shuichi wanted to try and socialize and connect with his new coworkers, so he smiled softly and spoke “ Yeah, I’m su-sure we’ll get more information about what happened. Maybe we should learn more about the dog stature, and exactly what kinds of rituals it was used for...” Shuichi paused, freezing up at the end of his sentence. Hajime didn’t tell him at all that the statue was used for rituals, that was Kaito. He internally cursed, hoping that the other three wouldn’t notice his slip up. You think if he was a detective, he’d be able to catch anything he didn’t want to say before he said it... but he guessed his desire to become closer to these people overcame that... 

Hajime looked over the papers, " Right. Let me go fill out some of the other paperwork first before we go there-Wait. You knew about the statue too? Huh, you must have taken a trip there on the way home or something. Anyways, need to fill out that paperwo-" 

The red eyed officer quickly spoke up again, " Not a problem, I already filled them out! It's better to have those who scout for clues to be on their job than to sign paperwork!" Ishimaru smirked. 

Hajime blinked a bit and gave a sincere smile, " Thanks Taka. Can always count on you." Ishimaru nodded giving another salute. 

A few minutes afterwards, Shuichi was given his badge and cuffs, as well with various other things one needed when serving the law. It was nice to be out of the cold considering Hajime had his own squad car with a nice warm heater, keeping the nipping cold away from Shuichi's face. " Alright we're going to have to go talk to the brother of the curator considering he also looks over the place. Ask a few things. We already scoured the place last night." 

Shuichi was relieved that Hajime didn’t think much about his knowledge of the statue, the anxiety in his chest disappearing as he was handed his equipment he would be using and safety storing them away on his person. He glanced over at Hajime, nodding at the plan for who and where they were going to question to try and find more information about the stolen item. “ S-Sure, sounds good.” He commented, affirming that Hajime’s plan sounded just alright to him. 

Occasionally, as Shuichi glanced out the window, he caught just in time to see a few flakes of snow begin to fall from the sky and onto the blanket of ice that covered most of the ground. Apart from the cold, it was always nice to get comfy near another, though Hajime was about work... Shuichi would at least get some warmth from his friends back at home. When exiting out from the patrol car, the chilly air ran around their bodies, but melted away once they went into the library, being greeted by a small crowd of tourists at the front desk. " We may be a medium sized town, but we get many tourists from the small things we have around here." Hajime explained, passing by the desk, showing his badge to the worker and tour guide, quickly trying to rush by the tour guide oddly enough. 

Shuichi nodded at Hajime’s comment, glad to be inside of a heated building instead of in the cold frigid air of outside. He took out his new badge, showing it to the worker and your guide as well. The tour guide had smiled brightly at the both of them, a cheerful tone in her high-pitched voice “ Good morning fine detectives! Before you proceed, I must ask you what you have done today to truly acknowledge the blessing you’re received by Auta that the three of us had met here today? It’s just simply amazing! Would you care to offer some blood so that Atua may get to know you better?!” Shuichi... didn’t know what to say. Something this sudden had thrown him off guard. Atua? He didn’t even really know what Atua was but assumed it was some kind of god or belief form how she had used the name in a sentence... Wait, what was that about blood?! 

If Shuichi wasn't behind his superior, he would have seen a heavy eye-roll that seemed to be more exaggerated than anything else. " Angie please we just need to go talk to you know who, not Atua-And before you ask, no my new partner is not going to give you some blood for Atua." He filled the other in with information again as he grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him along, trying to avoid the cheery worker, " That's the tour guide, also an artist here. She's kind of a religion nut, but just try not to think about it too much." He said, trying to keep a hushed tone so the wide-eyed girl wouldn't hear him. Hajime sure did know the place and people like the back of his hand. Especially the very bizarre ones... 

Shuichi followed along with Hajime as he was pulled on by his wrist, leaving Angie with a big pout on her lips “ That’s just not something you can decide for him, you know! If it’s Atua’s will then it shall be done eventually!” Shuichi chuckled slightly at Hajime’s explanation, following along with him. He took note at how many people Hajime had known, especially the more ‘characteristic’ ones. He guessed it was truly like he had described, a small town where almost everyone knew almost everyone... 

Hajime rubbed the side of his temple slowly, " See, this is why we thought for the longest time she was in a cult. Your new blood, but you’re the departments my new blood, if you get hurt, it's under my responsibility." Everything was going well-or... okay in aa way, until a slender man with bandage wrapping around his hands, silky looking hair, and piercing eyes that could be called beautiful if a woman, walked over. What was stranger about the effeminate man was some cloth covering his mouth as a mask... With a zipper... What the fuck? " Korekiyo." The older detective nodded as the taller man was inspecting the crossing lines the police had wrapped around the scene of the crime. 

" Ahh Hinata. My dear sister called to notify me you were coming around to ask a few things." His eyes glanced to Shuichi, making him put a hand up to the fabric mask, " Oh my, it seems you have a new partner. Welcome to Towa's Town my good sir. If you're not informed, yesterday those masked thieves attacked my sister's beloved building and stole a rare artifact that we had found at The Dog Cage Village. It's been said to be a key item in speaking with the departed, but other than the supernatural, it means much to me and my dear sister." 

Shuichi had listened to what Korekiyo had to say about the matter at hand, finding it interesting that they would steal something that would be a key item on speaking with the dead...but he started talking to him anyway despite his thoughts. “ I-It’s nice to meet you, my name is Shuichi Shuichi...!” He smiled, adjusting his hat. “ N-N-Now, about the artifact...does the statue itself claim to provide a connection to the deceased or is there a certain book that you have t-to possess to perform the procedure? Or any other artifacts that are needed to perform the ritual?” 

Korekiyo reached out and gently took Shuichi's hand, leaning to eye level, " It is nice to meet you Shuichi. I am Shinguji Korekiyo. But alas, we are not here to dabble about in talking." He let go off the hand and brought a wrapped finger to his mask to think into it more, " Indeed it does claim to be, but it also comes with a book, both are needed together in order to communicate with those of the departed. However, we had just recovered the Village's last known document, a book written by a girl who long ago lived there. We had not presented it out, but instead were to share it with the town library for those interested to properly read it as an add on part of the tour. As long as the statue is not with the book itself, there is no need to fear the ritual. We in trust the library staff with it. But now that the statue is gone, there may not be a point in having a tour group swing around here to look more into the fascinating village. But I highly doubt they would aka the book... Pranksters such as them have no need for parted or they would have struck last month when it was displayed." 

Hajime took out a notebook and pen, " Can you think of any motive if it's not that?" 

" Perhaps not wanting people to see one of the artifacts to make some OCD people get frustrated merely for a laugh. Or possibly just to mess with us as they tend to do. These relics aren't worth much according to the appraisers." 

Hajime jotted some notes, " And you're sure they came in from the back doors?" 

The taller man nodded, " Indeed. The alarm would have gone off, but something must have tampered with it. Perhaps they are getting smarter than previous entries. And besides that, the department has viewed the tapes." 

The brunette sighed, " Yeah... It was all fine, no one was hiding anywhere, or we'd have miscounted. Damn screens just suddenly fritzed out on us then came back on when we got there..." 

Shuichi had been taking mental notes when Hajime kept questioning Korekiyo about what happened that night and about the origins of the statue and the ritual that it was a part of. “ Could th-they have tampered with the power source of the building from the outside?” He questioned “ They could have cut off the power to slip inside of the building then turned it on once they had left.” He spoke, knowing full well that is-is what probably had happened last night when he was at the museum with Kaito. “ No, actually, it would probably have had to happen that way...” He mumbled out softly, adjusting the brim of his hat to pull it over his eyes. 

The taller male's eyes glanced over to Shuichi, " No, no, it was a good thought, but sadly no. The cables are underground. However, you did mention something from outside. We have cameras out there, along with motion sensors." 

Hajime tapped his foot, thinking more on the matter of the tapes, " All we found was a small ball being rolled into view and then static-... You don't think they could possibly have some type of device that could fuss with the electronics, do you?" 

Kiyo merely chuckled and shrugged, " Well, you down at the station have a so called 'robot', or rather an A.I of sorts, so it is possible in this town you know." He tutted Hajime, waving his bandaged finger side to side. The man believed in the supernatural… but not a working robotic person? 

" ... As Kiibo would say, that's robophobic." 

Shuichi raised a brow at Hajime’s comment about what Kiibo would say, but quickly shook it off and got back to the matter at hand, he messed with his hat slightly, thinking out loud about the whole situation. “ Well, hypothetically if the small ball was the source of the electronic disturbance it would have to have a large range to cut off all the power from the building a-all at once...” He mumbled, trying to reason with what he had knew, if the information isn’t something he’s been told before by Hajime. Like how the power went off all at once. “ But from what I know a-about devices like that, it’s not entirely impossible... and the cameras and motion sensors came back on so it’s not like the device had completely shorted it out, maybe providing a shock to the systems to temporarily shut them down.” 

Hajime jotted down more notes and nodded in reply, " This could be a possible lead then. They would have to be talented engineers and inventors that could make said device. It's either that someone in the organization is talented in engineering or they commissioned someone to create something like that." The detective seemed to be deep in thought. " I highly doubt that something like that could ever be built by pure coincidence and luck so it's most likely one of those two. If we go on our hunch, there are a few people in town who could pull it off." His lips turned into a frown of worry, " Though I'd rather not investigate them, due to some of their personalities. But seeing as I have you with me, I wouldn't be so alone on the matter." He peered over to Shuichi with a small but confident smile, " And I don't believe our thieves are ghosts, so, what say you partner?" 

Shuichi nodded at everything Hajime was saying, agreeing with him completely. When asked directly though, he pulled his hat down slightly and nodded with a soft smile “ Yeah, that sounds like a good next st-step...!” Though, he was a little worried when Hajime said that their personalities might make it...difficult to investigate them. But at this point, he probably should just get used to it, there was weird personalities all over this town. His older partner obligated in agreement, having them exit the building and pack into the car after reassuring Korekiyo that they would find and retrieve the artifact into its rightful place to be viewed and studied by passerby's. 

Hajime drove at the speed limits, not to low and not too fast, giving the capped boy enough time to jot down some notes. " Best people who could build things like that would be one, Chihiro Fujisaki, a guy who works at the mall's computer store. Chiaki Nanami, who works for us. Byakuya Togami's workers, basically a rich snob with people he can contact at the flick of the wrist. And, Miu Iruma, a self-proclaimed inventor. To talk to Togami, we'd need a stupid fucking reservation... And I doubt Chiaki would mess with the police, since she's one of the good ones. We're good friends, so I doubt she'd do this, and she's normally too tired to actually make anything. I guess we'll head over to Chihiro, because you're going to need some strength to talk to Miu, trust me." He nearly shuddered from just the mere thought of her. That didn't seem to be in Shuichi's favor... Being new and shy, AND having his more confident partner shiver from even mentioning her, meant it would be Hell on Earth in the cold frosty town he was in. He listened as Hajime explained all of the possible suspects, memorizing their names and what Hajime had said about them and their personalities. Shuichi felt on edge when he saw Hajime explain how he would need strength to talk to Miu...it made him worry to see Hajime shudder just at the thought of her. 

Shuichi bit his lip, nodding and pulling his hat over his eyes to try and hide how nervous he looked. “ O... Okay.” He replied “ L-Let’s go and talk to Chihiro then,” He spoke. “ B-But, if he has enough talent to build the device that could destroy a whole security system...why does he work in a mall at a computer store? Couldn’t he be doing so-something much more interesting...? O-or even better paying...?” 

" He use to work for the Togami Corp. but they found him... Lacking confidence and very timid, easy to upset. Basically, think of it like you, but a bit worse-n-no offense! Sides, he use to look over things at that store and the owner finally let him have it, knowing he'd be ecstatic. Togami Corps pretty tough. Either you be outstanding in personality and inventions or your out. Sides that, he wants to be close to his family. His family is pretty damn important to him." 

Eventually the car parked close to a relatively large and industrious mall. It had holiday festive decorations strewn about the outside with flashing lights greeting them to a warm welcome outside of the nipping cold. Inside was dazzled from so many more decorations, including a rather large pine tree in the middle, nearly towering over the three floors the place had. Shuichi nodded at Hajime’s explanation and followed him into the large mall that was decked out with festive decorations littering the walls and ceilings. He adjusted his hat slightly as they walked through the mall, looking around at all of the people and all of the stores there. He thought it over for a second “ So, if Chihiro is as s-shy as you say he is, does that also effect his resolve? Is he easily persuaded to do things or does he have a pretty solid grip on-on his morals?” He asked seeing if Hajime knew that about him, so he could keep that in mind during questioning. 

" He's got a good head on his shoulders, so yeah, good morals, but if push comes to shove, he'll do what's told. I rather not suspect him, but it's a thing none the less." As they rode up the escalator Hajime quickly told Shuichi some important notes to keep tabs on, " Second floor, computer and electronics. If we hurry, we'll make it pass someone I'd much rather not talk too, on the account that he annoys the shit out of me. Sometimes I swear he's worse than Kokichi." Hajime thoroughly rubbed his forehead. Once at the top, the detective quickly looked from side to side in a cautious manner, gulping a bit in hesitance. " If you see a guy with white hair come from the Star-Lucks, DO NOT... Talk to him." He warned the other, knowing the people better than anyone else it would appear. However, with barring the warning, he forgot to acknowledge that this might waste his time from running to the electronic shop and attract unwanted attention. 

Shuichi raised a brow at Hajime when he had talked about avoiding a certain person, thinking how someone could irritate him more than Kokichi could... now it kind of interested him. But speak of the devil and he shall appear. A head of and crazy hair had peeked out of the Star-Lucks, looking directly at the both of them, not having to look around to know where they were. He must of saw them from inside. He walked over to Hajime while he was distracted, talking to Shuichi about none other than himself. Shuichi had saw the white-haired man approach and was about to open his mouth to say something. But, before he had the chance to, the stranger leaned forward and blew into Hajime’s ear suddenly and quickly and backing away before he got potentially hit. 

On instinct the older detective shouted quietly and nearly punched the white-haired male, missing him by a good eight inches or so. The somewhat down to Earth detective had been so startled when he looked over his shoulder, he nearly tripped over himself and onto the cold tiled floor, " HRNG!" Hajime took a deep inhale, Shuichi clearly seeing the anguish flood his face as he shut his eyes tightly as if to brace himself for pain. He then stood in a straighter posture and turned around to fake a smile, " Komaeda, heeeey. I keep forgetting you work here." The younger detective could easily tell Hajime was in an awkward position that quite, frankly, could end badly if he was noticed. " How are you doing? I'm sssso sorry I almost punched you...Your uh, hand getting any better?" He chuckled nervously, digging deeper into the tension. " Before you say a thing-I'm sorry for nearly breaking it." He glanced to a small cast over the other's left hand. " But I told you, not to sneak up on me, I get... Twitchy... L-Like know for instance." 

Shuichi could tell things were...very tense between Hajime and Komaeda. Especially when he had learned that Hajime had nearly broken his arm... Shuichi was slightly stunned to be honest. Komaeda didn’t feel the same tension in the air as Hajime did, keeping his usual calm smile on his face as he stood in front of him. “ Haha, it’s no problem Hajime,” He started to speak. “ This just means my luck gets better from here on out!~“ He grinned wider “ Because of the despair I felt when you had nearly broken my hand, that means something that gives me hope is right around the corner! And who knows, maybe it’ll be related to you in somehow because you’re the one who caused my despair...~ That just means that I’ll get to spend more time with you in the future then! I like being around you, so maybe that’ll be my good luck, just being able to be around such a talented detectives as yourself~.” He trailed off, his smile growing even bigger as he looked at Hajime. 

The slightly older detective coughed into his own arm from the uneasiness of the incessant babbling of Komaeda, Hajime regained some of his composure, " Ri-Right, right. Luck-Yeah, seems that luck is heading your way man." He muttered under his breath a bit before rubbing the side of one of his temples, " I told you it's not despair. Despair is what you have when everything is hopeless and you're trapped, scared, and alone-NOT... When you're just in pain- or have hope to turn it around-Damnit, know you're getting me to talk about this." The tired brunette looked to his partner, putting a hand up to signify the crazy Star-Lucks barista and the new detective, " This is Saihara Shuichi, he's the newest detective to the unit. Shuichi this is..." He clasped his hand together, shifting them from him to the paler boy, " ... Yeah. Uhm-look, to be honest we're on an investigation, and I have the slightest feeling you're on your break. Sooo, Shuichi, the store is over there after the food court, I'll meet you there, okay?" He said, nudging the younger one from the conversation, more than likely saving him from it at this point. 

Shuichi listened in on Hajime’s input on what the other one said, blinking out of his thoughts when he was suddenly introduced to the barista. He then felt Hajime nudge him slightly with instructions on where to go, knowing that he likely wanted to save him from standing there and listening. He then nodded at Hajime’s request, looking over at the white haired boy and smiling shyly “ I... It was nice to meet you.” He spoke, at least trying to be nice before he had turned around and started walking in the direction of the computer store. 

Komaeda waved as Shuichi was leaving, then glancing over at Hajime and spoke “ Wow, you knew I was on my break, gosh I’m so lucky that scum like me knows someone as amazing as you!~” 

Shuichi heard that list bit as he was walking away, sighing internally. He could see someone like him getting on Hajime’s nerves...but in a good way? As Hajime looked more than occupied with Komaeda, the barista seemed to be lively and animated in their conversation... With most of Hajime fold his arms and sound like he was trying to make a point across of the odd white-haired male he wasn't scum. But, also keeping into context that he wasn't of any higher power either. As that paler male who was pestering Hajime would say, 'luck was very much on Shuichi's side' was a bit accurate. That being said, there was only one person working at a table, typing away on a laptop, thoroughly invested in it. They stopped, sensing someone walked into their humble store and peeked out from behind the screen. Large brown eyes with matching locks of hair were seen peeking out. From where the detective stood near the entrance, the worker looked like a small young and petite quiet like girl. " O-Oh, h-hello!", The detective greeted, " M-May I help you with something?" They hid behind their screen, hiking up their shoulders a bit, somewhat startled and spooked, but still offered the necessities to Shuichi as a worker. 

Shuichi had blinked softly, seeing a girl behind the desk. He walked into the store, a soft smile on his face as a spoke “ Oh,” He pulled his badge out of his pocket, showing it to the person who was hiding themselves behind the computer. “My name’s Shuichi Saihara, a-a detective, and I’m here for Chihiro?” He asked, looking at the person behind the monitor. They did act like what Hajime had described Chihiro as...but Hajime also said the Chihiro was a male... he didn’t want to make assumptions either, but they definitely looked more feminine from where Shuichi was standing. 

The younger looking... girl? nodded and smiled a lightly, still with a rather worried expression on their face, " O-Oh! Th-Th-That's me!" They perked up a bit before going back to typing, but still fully paying attention to the other, " It's a-a pleasure to meet you, really, considering you're working with Hajime. And I-I take it he's busy, with that weird guy from Star-Lucks right?" The typing ceased as the large eyes glanced back up to Shuichi, worry engulfing yet again. " U-Uhm... You're a detective? S-So why are you h-here? O-Oh no! D-Did I do s-something wrong?!" Chihiro peeked out from the screen again more, this time nervousness claiming their face. " I-If it's about my-my brothers, I swear t-they’re not at fault!" They gave a look of shame and fear all mixed into one emotion. 

Shuichi had raised up his hands slightly, waving them and shaking his head quickly, “Oh, ah, no! None of your brothers have done something wr-wrong!” He spoke “ A-And yes, Hajime is a bit caught up at the moment... s... so I’m just here to ask you a couple of questions about the types of machines you can build and if anyone has come to you for any commissions or things of the sort...?” He asked, keeping a soft smile on his face to try and calm down the other small and shy one across from him. He knew the feeling all too well, so he wanted to be as comforting as possible. 

The smaller person sighed in a heavy relief, though still a bit anxious and hesitant. " O-Oh, okay good. Aherm, sorry, I just worry about them is all, they can be... Reckless?" They gave a small unsure chuckle before clearing out their throat, " S-Sure I'd be h-happy to help you out. As for machines, I-I work from computers, to programs, to code-though I-I'd never dare hack anything. I-I even helped Professor Idabashi with ma-making K1-B0... O-Or as you might know due to being part of the department, Kiibo. S-So what type of device are you curious about, b-because I only get commissioned f-for computer software, b-but if you tell me about it, I-I might be able to h-help." 

The detective took a mental note that basically the only thing that Chihiro got commissioned for was computer software, and how they swore that they would never hack anything. He then debated whether or not to tell the smaller person in front of him about the device...but then deemed them trustworthy. “ Well, there was a de-device seen on a video camera that potentially could temporarily disable all electronics and cut off power in a large radius.” 

Chihiro pondered for a moment, putting a finger to his mouth, more than willing to help, instead of refusing or trying to weasel out any important information, " Hrm w-well... There is something like that that I do k-know of... It's typically known as a Chaff Grenade. It consists of small aluminum strips that are specifically designed to confuse radar frequencies. The chaff grenade is a combination of a wide-dispersal system for such strips and an electronic jamming system similar in effect to a magnetic pulse; it fools most electronic devices in a wide spread area, including security cameras, radios, and some types of UAV. The strips are far too tiny for the naked eye or camera feed of one. By the time they've been used, they are normally blown away by wind or any type of air current, leaving no evidence behind." They looked up to the now baffled detective. The younger looking person rubbed the back of their neck in embarrassment of knowing that a little too well or just sounding like a total nerd, " B-But, th-that's just in g-games, he-hehehe... Well, from what I know of, from watching my cousin." 

Shuichi had listened closely to Chihiro’s explanation of a device that could have potentially be used. It sounded perfectly like the description of the device that they were looking for... maybe this was the device that D.I.C.E had used to break in. He smiled slightly when Chihiro got embarrassed from talking too much. “ That sounds like the description o-of what I’m looking for.” He spoke “Even if it’s just in video games, do you think that it could possibly be made in real life?” With how childish the gang seemed to be, he wouldn’t be surprised if some of their ideas for mischief came from things such as video games or even TV shows. The idea of the device used to be a Chaff Grenade just rose in Shuichi’s mind a little more. 

" Well... I mean we have an A.I with it's own personality and emotions, so anything could be real nowadays. Though, now that I think about it more, th-there's no way to really nullify the type of device, considering you play the good guy in it, in order to get by security from people who want to do bad things to the world. The g-game was fairly old, so I'm not sure if strips c-could an-and would actually b-be that small or invisible o-or if it's just some type of electronic wave in the air." They shrugged their shoulders. At that point, the superior walked in, looking more peeved than actually angry or tired. " H-Hey Hajime." They gave a small gentle smile. 

Hajime gave one back as best as he could, only now getting away from the cheerful barista. " Hey, your brothers staying out of trouble?" 

" Mmm, more or less..." 

" It'll be fine if it's just one of them. Anyways, how's the interview of questions going?" 

Shuichi looked over at Hajime, smiling at him and noticing that he had looked slightly peeved. Must have been the barista who had done it to him. “ I... It’s going good...!” He spoke “ C-Chihiro hasn’t been asked to make anything other than computer programs but described the kind of device that could have been used to disarm all the electronics. It came from a game. It seems like something they would want to use, especially if it came from a video game.” 

Hajime patted his new partner's shoulder as a small bit of a reward and respect after he, himself asked Chihiro the same questions, and getting the same results, letting the two to depart and return back into the patrol car. 

Hajime jotted some notes onto his own notebook, pulling it out and flipping through the many pages to find a blank space. " Okay. I'll need to ask Chiaki down at the precinct to see if there's anything we can learn more about this type of fictional device, she loves video games. Until then, we'll need to take a trip to Iruma's place, and then fill in a request to see Togami. With that being said, buckle up for a bumpy ride." Hajime's expression went to that of unwilling and unease, but with a hint of determination as he drove them to another part of the town. 

Eventually pulling up at two apartment buildings, having a staircase down the middle of the two, each with doors on each floor. Hajime stepped out and started to make way up the stairs, hesitating at one door in particular and slowly extending out to knock on it. He took in a deep breath, to soothe his rising anxiety. The detective then replaced his nervous look with all the determination he can muster up in a short notice. 

Shuichi had been building his confidence up on the drive towards Miu’s place, knowing he would probably need it. He followed Hajime up the stairs and stood next to him when he knocked on the door. He also noticed the deep breath and the calming down Hajime was trying to do, asking himself if this was really going to be that bad of if Hajime was just overreacting. A few seconds after he knocked, there was a shout coming from inside the apartment “ Give me a fuckin’ second!” A feminine voice shouted out. A minute or so after she had called out, the door swung open to reveal a girl with long, blond, and messy hair. She looked at the both of them, then focused on Hajime “ Oh, it’s the virgin! You finally come here because you couldn’t just resist my smoking hot body, huh? Pervert!” She then glanced over to Shuichi, a grin spreading across her face “ Oh, and you want to make it a threesome! See, I knew you were a fuckin’ kinky bastard you slimy detective!” She spoke to Hajime. 

The slightly older detective had to take in another deep breath to keep his anger to a minimum-or rather his tolerance for today. This in turn made himself wince and shiver for a quick moment, " Hello Miu. This is my par-..." He immediately cut himself off, knowing Miu would poke another hole into it, much like Kokichi already did, " Assistant... We're not here for anything besides to ask a few things, regarding a case, that's all. May we come in? Or is Saionji going to throw shit at me again?" 

" Only because you broke Komaede's hand you big meanie!" A younger more childlike voice burst through the air in the back of the apartment complex. " Also watch your step! We lost the remote to Miu's robotic hand on the floor so if you step on it'll will rip you a new one!" 

Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose, " ... Thanks." 

Shuichi was stunned by how...dirty Miu seemed to be without a hint of hesitation. This was about to be... interesting. “ Yeah, if you happen to find the remote, give it to me, I’m becoming desperate without my hand~” Miu spoke before swinging the door open, gesturing inside of her house with a grin on her face “ Welcome to the thunder dome, ass turds!” Shuichi blinked, slightly surprised by her way of putting things...but he knew he had to get over it. “ Don’t touch anything you don’t need to, but of course if you feel the need to touch anything don’t be afraid!~” She spoke, clearly indirectly hinting at something dirty. 

Hajime's face soon a turned to a tinge of pink, shoving his badge in her face, " Woah-Okay-Okay! Calm down Miu. You're going to scare my assistant away..." For some reason, showing off his badge made the erratic inventor back down a bit, possibly from the compellation of watching crime movies... or crime porno... Something dealing with authority at the very least. Anyways, Hajime led his partner into the place which wasn't to terribly small for people to live in, but not large enough for more than three people at max. Half of the main room was crowded with electronics, metal bobs, and that sort of like, while the other half seemed to split off into two sections. One side having to deal with scripts and costumes to dance in, with the other section seemingly plain aside from a medical kit and nail polish perched on some books and movies cases. 

A small curious head poked out from further down the room, most likely leading to a bedroom. The owner's head walked out to revel a small short girl with big blonde pigtails and an orange kimono. She eyed the both of them before snickering, " I thought police had partners not assistants. Either way it ends with someone's ass if you think about it." 

whats worse than one rude blonde? BAM! two] 

Shuichi didn’t expect the small girl commenting about the whole partner thing, remembering that Kokichi had said sort of the same thing earlier that morning. He didn’t know what to say, slightly flustered from meeting new people but also because the new people were very...aggressive and suggestive. Miu crossed her arms, cackling slightly at Saionji’s comment about the two detectives. She then cleared her throat, looking at the two detectives “ Anyway, what the hell did you guys want to ask about?” 

Saionji giggled to herself, " Ptth, Miu calm down? You should be the one to calm down, flower boy. We know she has the body of a goddess and wouldn't mind just stripping naked and let it rip. But not with a child in the room~." 

Hajime pinched his own nose at the ridge, sighing of how damn difficult this was going to be. " Saionji, you're twenty, you're not a kid, so stop acting like one-though you don't act like one." The smaller girl puffed up her cheeks in a matter of frustration or defense. " Miu, we came here to ask about a hypothetical question of a device disarming alarms and security cameras. The reason why, is for a case, now can you please help with that or do I need to raise my voice. You know I hate doing that." Saionji huffed and sat down, pulling out her phone and fussing with it, more likely playing a game or texting to a friend. 

Miu raised a brow when Hajime had asked about a disarming device, keeping her arms crossed around her chest. “ A device that disarms security cameras and alarms, huh?” She asked, thinking for a second “ What about it? You need something like that to sneak into a girls house while she’s sleeping or something?” She asked genuinely. Shuichi had desensitized to it slightly, so when Miu had added on the last part to her statement he had only gotten slightly flustered and pulled his hat over his eyes slightly. 

The brunette sighed, " No Miu... D.I.C.E. struck last night... Where were you yesterday if I may ask?" 

Saionji accused, pointing a finger to them both, letting Shuichi see her cutesy act vanish and summon up pure anger tapping into her eyes. " Oh my god, are you seriously pressing her on shit again?! She was with me, Komaeda, Kazuichi, Leon, and me to go see the movies, jeez! I swear whenever that stupid gang strikes, you always blame us on it!" 

" I-It wasn't like that-" Hajime, who was normally well composed backed down just a bit from the sudden outburst. 

" Kokichi was right, you guys should just do your damn jobs instead of accusing us, you fucking pigs!" Saionji huffed out before slowly calming herself down and going back to her cellphone. 

Miu crossed her arms, taking Saionji’s side on this and glaring at Hajime. “ Yeah! You guys always fuckin’ suspect us! If anything, you’re the shady bastards because you always come to us whenever something bad happens with those guys!” She lifted her chin to him, turning away from the both of them. “ Now I won’t answer whatever question you have about that stupid fucking disarming device or whatever!” 

Shuichi looked up at her, biting his lip slightly before looking up at her. “ H-He’s just covering his bases...!” He started to speak “ He’s asking all of the talented inventors he knows to see if they knew something about it because... because he knows that only a really good inventor could pull it off! So... i-if anything it should be really flattering!” 

Miu paused for a second, before turning back around with a grin on her face. She walked up to Hajime, roughly wrapping an arm around his shoulder, and laughing “ Well why didn’t you say so on the first place, idiot!!” 

The other detective looked to be in a bit discomfort as the busty blonde swung her arm around him, drawing him close-or more of flustered, " Yeaaaah... Yeah t-that's what I meant..." He gave a look to Shuichi for helping him, but also the look of pure disdain from being lugged by Miu. 

Saionji glanced over, rolling her eyes and scoffed, " Yeah miss big ol' biddies got a message from someone. There was this stranger who commissioned them. Didn't give a name or a chance to look at them properly. They simply paid her, and she gave them what they asked for. How we're we suppose to know it'd be for those dumb-asses?" 

Shuichi looked over at Saionji, nodding softly at her statement and keeping a mental record of what she said. “ S-So, Miu, since you know about the device, can you tell us all there is to know about it?” He asked. 

Miu unhooked her arm from Hajime, looking at Shuichi. “ Oh yeah, they basically asked for a real-life version of this one stupid thing from this video game...basically it does everything from the video game except it isn’t very small, more of a ball form. And it’s pink, it had to be pink apparently.” 

The smaller blonde clicked her tongue, " Yeah, what a fucking weirdo..." She stuck out her tongue at the two detectives before getting up to the front door, putting up her cellphone. " Hrmf, be right back. Rantaro made some pastries, and I'm sure he'd want you two to have some... As if you deserve any." 

Hajime sighed but gave a small smile once the feisty one left, " That's at least a good enough thing. Well you must have heard them, what was their voice like-unless they had typed to you to meet up somewhere. And if so, where did you two meet up? That could be very crucial to this case Miu, and I would gladly like to know." The superior detective seemed to know how to deal with the inventor, knowing when to threaten, when to calm down, and when to indulge her by asking in polite tones. 

Miu had crossed her arms, clicking her tongue slightly when Hajime had asked her the question “ They sent me a message, saying that they wanted to meet up in some alley, the one near the area with the hair place, the tailor shop, the triple x club and the diner. They wore loose clothing and really tall boots, so I couldn’t even tell what sex they were. They also had a voice modulator, so they sounded like a robotic girl or something. “ 

Hajime's brows furrowed, " Hrmm, The one near the Okinawa streets? Interesting-" He cut himself short, muttering lightly about how of course they'd have been dressed up. " Well, knowing your roommates I'd take it you met them in daylight. Which would be strange-then again Chiaki watches too many crime shows dealing with night instead." He chuckled a bit, thinking about it now. " Thank you Miu, sorry about earlier. I wish you a good evening-" Suddenly the door burst open, having Saionji run in and practically tackle him down, but managing to cling onto his white shirt while holding two bear claw pastries, " AHH! Get off, you little gremlin!" 

Saionji glared up at him before spitting out her words like a threat as she shoved one of them into Hajime's mouth and begrudgingly handing the other to Shuichi, " Nu-uh! The least you could so is drive me and Rantaro to Kaede's house to deliver the pastries you jerk!" 

Shuichi had blinked slightly when Kaede’s name was mentioned, all of the thinking he had been doing about the case completely going onto the back burner. “W-Wait...!” He spoke, looking at Saionji who was shoving a bear claw into Hajime’s mouth. “ Y-You guys know Kaede...?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. He knew that this was a small town but...he didn’t think that everyone knew everyone. 

Saionji only glared, " Duh! She works at the theater with me and Ibuki! And besides Rantaro is a good friend of hers! And you better like those claws, you two hardly deserve any, but Rantaro would just get onto me. So, drive us!" She let go momentarily to tap her sandaled foot before hopping back onto the brunette. 

" Okay, okay." Hajime looked to his new partner with a smile to thank him, grabbing the pastry from his mouth. " Shuichi if you want, you can go home when we get there. I wouldn't want to overload you with so many places, people, and topping it off with filling out that request forum. Besides, it's getting near night, and the boss is not a happy camper at night. C'mon you little gremlin." He waved to Miu before exiting with the two, still having Saionji cling onto him along the way to meet with a lean young man with some earrings, contrasting against his green hair. 

Shuichi had a nervous smile when Hajime had said he could go home when they had gotten to ‘Kaede’s place’, which also happened to be his place as well... so he wasn’t completely off the hook yet. He followed Hajime towards the exit of apartment while Saionji was clinging onto the superior detective. The lean young man mentioned previous was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed and his green hair draping over his piercings. He looked over at Saionji clinging onto Hajime, not exactly surprised that she had gotten her way. “ Hey,” He spoke to them, then looked over at Hajime “ Nice to see you again,” He then looked over at Shuichi, grinning softly. “And you must be new, my name’s Rantaro Amami. Yours?” 

Shuichi adjusted his hat, slightly stuttering out “ O-Oh, my name’s Shuichi Saihara....it’s nice to meet you too!” 

Hajime sighed lightly, " It's fine really, you can go relax, I'll handle the chief-" He nearly bumped into the lime green hair male as Saionji clung to him like a koala, " W-Woah! Oh, hey Rantaro. Shuichi, this is a good friend of the actors and music players down at the theater. Rantaro, this is my new partner. He just came in yesterday." 

Saionji snickered, " Wow, and you say Miu is bad. And here you are going on about partners and coming, jeez, you’re a total perv, eww!" Saionji flung herself off Hajime whose eye twitched ever so slightly... But he could easily blame it on the cold air irritating his eyes if need be. 

Hajime kept a hold of his anger, " Why must you do this?" Saionji only giggled in a childish tone, hopping backwards to Rantaro's side giving them an innocent look. " Anyways, Shuichi is bunking with Kaede if I heard correctly. Since you both are her friends, I'm sure you'll both get along." He gave a smile, opening the car doors for them. Shuichi took note of Hajime’s irritation with the small girl that had been clinging to him before looking back to Rantaro again. He then followed the group down to the car and got inside when the doors were opened for him. He had to admit, a lot had happened that day so of course he was a little tired and mentally exhausted from all of it... but of course that wouldn’t stop him from thinking about things related to the case as well on the car ride there or when he had gotten home for the night. The case was just starting to develop today, to the point where it had really started to interested Shuichi. And that didn’t happen just normally every time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fujisaki along with his cousin, Chiaki get to live with a family who adopted him-aka Mondo and Daiya, Mondo's brother. They deserve to be happy ;w;


	4. Shrouded In A Daft Disguise, He Pretends To Terrorize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you hear the knell of a requiem bell, weird glows gleam where spirits dwell...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to update this weekly... But I don't have much to do, and I've been needing to post this story for fucking ever.

Once Rantaro helped herd the small girl into the car, Hajime let Shuichi sit shotgun even with Saionji's constant bickering. Hajime sat into the driver’s seat, starting the car up and going slowly to enjoy the pastry he had been giving. Though that was when Saionji opened up her little ye very big mouth, " So Shuweenie, why'd you wanna' become a detective?" 

Though Hajime was interested in Shuichi's backstory as also being a detective, he decided not to push it, " R-Rantaro can you settle her down? It's okay if you don't want to say Shuichi-" 

" Awwwww! But I wanna' hear a story!" Saionji whined out before going to her normal snide self, " That way I can decide if it was really crappy and just a waste of time to listen to while we get there, or if it has some actual value unlike you." Shuichi was able to see Hajime's fingers grip into the steering wheel, possibly pretending it was the blonde's neck... 

Shuichi widened his eyes slightly when he was asked about why he had become a detective and appreciated Hajime trying to hold her back. But, when he saw Hajime’s fingers gripping on the steering wheel, he thought that maybe it was just best to give Saionji what she had wanted to see if it would calm her down. He adjusted the top of his hat “ No-No, it’s okay. I... I can say why I became a detective if you really want to know, Saionji.” He said, glancing over his shoulder to look back at her with a soft smile before turning forwards again and taking a deep and shaky breath before he began to speak. “ I guess... it really started when I w-was little. My parents weren’t the best, they had traveled to live overseas and work as a screen writer and an actor respectively. My uncle ha-had taken me in and to show my gratitude I started to help him at his detective agency, doing small jobs like organizing or cleaning here and there... after a year or so of doing that, my parents and returned overseas to take me back in and live at ho-home because they said something along the lines of ‘their jobs could be performed anywhere, and they would rather be with me than somewhere more profitable’. 

T....They had picked me up from my uncles’ house right after their plane landed and we were driving from there to our own house. Then there wa-was a bad accident, our car and passengers had taken most of the damage. The other car was still intact enough to keep driving....... a... a hit and run. When I wo-woke up in the hospital, I had learned my parents… didn’t make it... and that the person who had hit us wasn’t able to be identified or located. S... So... I went back with my uncle and worked at his agency again, using their computers and data to try and find who could have done it... from there I just saw more cases on file and ju-just… started to solve them? My uncle didn’t approve morally of stealing cases but was more than happy enough to give me cases to solve after that. S-So then... here I am now...?” He pulled his hat over his eyes as much as he could, embarrassed that he had talked to much about himself. 

Hajime seemed to drive even slower, somehow avoiding people from honking at him to speed up or suddenly cutting him off. His eyes glanced over to his partner, showing concern as he took in the hefty information of the past. This had even made the obnoxious brat in the back shut up and avert her eyes away to look outside, watching fellow cars pass by, making the snow drift up and land back down slowly like feathers. Hajime regained himself for what seemed like the fifth time today, " I-I... Sorry you went through a rough patch. I'm at least thankful your uncle watched over you. Sounds like he's a good man. From what I was notified by Kirigiri, she said you were shy but wanted to help you. I know Kirigiri tried to do her best, though she won't seem like it. Got a friend at the department who use to be her partner before deciding to move over here... I guess what I'm trying to get at is, I hope I can help you out as well. No one should go through what you did." He gave a soft smile to reassure his new partner. 

Shuichi looked over at Hajime’s reassurances about his past and partially for his future living in this town as one of his detectives. He gave a soft smile from under his hat, nodding in affirmation of his statement. “ T-Thanks...” He spoke warmly. He also had noticed that his story had seemed to quiet Saionji down as well and felt glad he could help Hajime if he could with her. He glanced out the window at the cold landscape outside, watching the trace amounts of snow covering the ground flutter and scatter whenever a breeze had passed by. Rantaro had been sitting in the back the whole time with the small girl, listening to Shuichi’s story intently. He also was slightly thankful that the girl had calmed down, but also interested in the past of the new detective. 

The car finally came to a stop, letting the group get out. Hajime stayed in the car and waved from the window, " I see a car here, Kaede must be home. How long you two spending time over here?" 

" Mmmm, a good twenty minutes~!" Saionji answered before Rantaro could intervene, making the detective nod. Rantaro was cut off by Saionji before he could say how long there were probably going to be there for, signing slightly. 

Hajime smirked, " Just ask them to drive you back then." He said before turning to the shy detective, " Shuichi, go relax, that's an order got it?" 

Shuichi looked over at Hajime from his position outside of the and smiled softly while nodding. “ Y-Yes sir...!” He spoke cheerfully before turning around and heading towards the front door. He didn’t feel obligated to knock and wait exactly, because he lived there as well, but when he opened the door he knocked slightly and yelled out to the house in an awkward tone of voice “ Um...I-I’m home...?” 

After Hajime took off back to the precinct, Saionji happily pranced through the doorway, " Oh Miss Kaede~! We found your new stray! He's adorable!" Her tone shifted from being a down right bitch to, fun and carefree. Must be an act... Her bright eyes lingered over to the night guard, about to go to work, " Hello astro-nut." 

Kaito's who was busy taking his medication looked over his purple jacket's shoulder, eyes squinting down to her, " Hello... Gizmo." He then put a hand to the side of his mouth to holler to his friend, " Hey Kaede Shuichi's home! Along with your favorite avocado!" Saionji tapped her foot, folding her arms, Kaito didn't pay much attention to her but smiled once his eyes ran over Rantaro holding the pastries, " ... Oh and the gremlin-they brought goodies!" 

Shuichi had blinked when Saionji had suddenly become so cheerful and nice, and was slightly embarrassed when she had called him a stray, he looked over towards Kaito and walked towards him slightly “ Y-You’re about to go to work?” He asked. 

The astronaut in training nodded, " Yup, sure we got robbed, but don't mean I can't not go do my job-" Saionji seemed to draw his attention with a slight snicker, making the elder’s eye twitch. " I see you've met 'the terror'..." 

Kaede had heart Kaito’s yelling, quickly speed walking through the house to see her friends that had gathered at the door. “ Hi!!” She spoke to everyone before going up Saionji and Rantaro. 

Rantaro held out the pastries he was holding to Kaede, a soft smile on his face. “ Hey, how’s it going?” He asked. 

Kaede took the pastries and smiled happily “ It’s going great! It’s nice to see you!” She then looked down towards Saionji and put on a big smile “ It’s nice to see you too, Saionji!” 

Saionji was busy giving the pianist a hug before skipping around her 'older brother' and giggling like a child, acting innocent as possible. Both before shared a hardy glare at one another. Kaito decided to be the bigger person and drop the argument that may occur by putting his hands to his hips and shaking his head. " Right, besides the little flea here, it's nice to see ya' Rantaro." He chuckled before snatching a bear claw pastry for himself. 

Shuichi had chuckled softly when he had seen that Kaito had seemed to have a vendetta against Saionji, looking at the glare the both of them had seemed to share with each other. Rantaro glanced over at Kaito when spoken to, grinning “ Ah, are you sure it’s not just the bear claws?” He spoke teasingly “ I wouldn’t blame you if it was, they’re actually pretty good.” Kaede had chuckled softly at Rantaro’s words, watching Saionji as she had smiled around him and watching how innocent and sweet, she was being at the moment. 

Kaito rolled his eyes lightly, " Oh hahaha. Thanks mister stand up, don't quit your day job-Actually don't, 'cuz no one will wanna' watch over that." He pointed to the small dancer, with a smile, not seeming bitter at all, just in good competitive nature. 

Saionji only stood there wrinkling her nose and puffing up her cheeks to be showed up a bit and pulled out her phone again. " Well, I need to text someone, so if you don't mind me, I won't be able to throw anything at Kaito before he leaves. By the way, how's the job going?" 

Kaito scratched under his nose, trying not to make it such a big deal, because to him, it wasn't, the gang had stolen things prior to this one. Even other guards who had taken his place for a while had no better results. " Eh, it's goin' just fine. I get to show people stars and constellations in the day, so, I'm doing what I like to- Wha-Hey, hey, hey! Why are you askin'?!" 

She grinned, " Because you like to listen to your own voice. And besiiiides, you gotta' stay all healthy and take your medication, right?" 

Kaito flustered about, " Of-Of course I am! I gotta' in case those daft idiots try anything again! This time I'll be ready! No matter how many there are, damnit!" He shouted with such enthusiasm that he hadn't noticed he had put his knuckles together in determination. The smaller person looked up momentarily and rolled her eyes before texting more, gaining a sly smirk that Rantaro knew far too well... 

Rantaro had chuckled slightly when he saw the sly smirk on the smaller one’s face, definitely knowing exactly what it had meant. Shuichi had glanced over towards the both of them, noticing the slight interaction between the two even if was a small one. He had gotten a strange...vibe from the interaction, especially just after what Kaito had said. But, he ignored his instinct and pushed his thought to the side, marking them as false or wrong. Kaede was smiling from the interactions that the group was having, just happy to be with some of the people she loved spending time with and just talking to. Shuichi had looked over at Kaito after snapping out of his thoughts, his enthusiasm contagious. “ A... And if they do strike again,” he spoke hesitantly “ a-as your sidekick, I’ll definitely figure out who did it...!” 

Kaito flashed an encouraging grin, " Hell yeah! That's the sidekick I know! I know you'll crack them wide open! Well anyways, I've got to get goin' So, again nice to see ya-aside from Gizmo again." He was immediately returned with a single flip of the finger. " The feeling is mutual... Anyways, thanks for the claw, I'll be back home much later ya' two." 

As he turned to the door, Saionji quickly hid her smirk and started to hop up and down, " O-Oh, oh, oh, Miss Kaede! Oh!" 

Before Kaito was fully out, he smirked watching the smaller girl, " Oh, she turned into a Pomeranian. Ya' want a treat girl?" 

" Hrnnng... Screw you astro-boy... Anyways, Miss Kaede, Ibuki says she needs you at theater stat! Something going on with the piano, and we all know your able to fix it! A-And rehearsal is tomorrow in the morning! The director is gonna' be suuuuuper early! And... We all know how she can get." 

Shuichi had waved as Kaito as he left for his shift, smiling softly before turning back and listening to what Saionji was telling Kaede about. Kaede looked at the small girl as she was talking, sighing softly at the mention that something was going on with the piano. “ It was working just fine earlier... but yeah, I guess I could come in and fix it!” She smiled slightly. “ Do you know exactly what’s going on with the piano?” She asked “ Or, did Ibuki say what was going on with it?” 

Kaito stopped yet again, turning around leaning over the small person, pointing at the small girl swaddled in orange. " Again? I thought you guys finally got it tuned or somethi-" Kaito then swiftly pulled away, holding his now bruised finger, " AH! SHE BIT ME!" He whined out before showing it to the others, " Does this look infected?" 

Saionji whined out, " Some of the keys are stuck and won't work li-like some stupid shitty keyboard-" She paused looking at a new text, " Annnd one of the wires just snapped, great... C'mon we better get going. Me and Rantaro can go with you and help, sides, we'll need to be dropped off." 

Shuichi blinked when Kaito had gotten bit, not really expecting that to happen...Rantaro kept focused on the conversation with Kaede and Saionji about the broken piano. “ Yeah,” Rantaro started to speak, “ Sorry about this all of a sudden, Kaede.” 

Kaede shook her head with a kind smile on her face “ No, no, it’s fine!” She spoke. She then looked over at Shuichi “ You can stay here then and get some rest after your first day at work!” 

Shuichi had an embarrassed look on his face, glancing over to the side with a soft smile and nodding “O-Okay.” 

Kaito gave his old friend a pat, " Dinner is in the fridge, we made sure to make ya' and Maki-Roll some. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a ship to look after!" He gave a cheerful grin before going out the door. 

Saionji rolled her eyes as she leaned onto the green haired male, " Pth, that's what he calls the museum? What a dork. But he's right, I guess. Have a nice night Sushi-chi~!" The rotten little blonde waved to him before pushing Kaede and Rantaro like a small child, " C'mon, c'mon, we're losing time-and Rantaro don't you dare do the gravity increase on me again!" 

Shuichi had waved to Kaito again as he had walked out the door, smiling softly. Kaede was thrown off balance when she was pushed by the smaller girl, chuckling softly, and starting to walk out the door at a quicker pace. Rantaro grinned slightly when Saionji had mentioned the gravity increasing. He then started to lean back onto her “Funny you should mention that…” he gasped slightly, leaning back more “ Oh! It’s happening again! Oh no, gravity’s increasing on me!!” 

The smaller more feisty girl held her hands up to keep the good natured male off of her, " Ah! N-No, no! No, it's not-Don't you dare! Not again-Eeeeek!" The small person who had been antagonizing Hajime, Shuichi, and even Kaito was slowly being crumbled down and onto the floor, " You're butt is crushing me!" She squirmed around flailing like a cat in water before Rantaro was helped pulled off by Kaede. Saionji gasped out, " AIR!" She soon got up and fussed with her kimono before following the older two out. Rantaro had laughed when he had crumbled down on top of her, being pulled up by Kaede when the two of them thought she had enough of the teasing. Kaede let out a little chuckle at her reaction, walking out of the house with Rantaro and closing the door behind them. 

Thus leaving the detective alone in the warm house... At least it was an ideal idea to rest, possibly put on a movie or something till his friends got back home. The sudden quiet in the house now felt pretty... strange. Even though he had spent a lot of his time alone at home before moving here, after being constantly talked to or being around people all day, the silence felt slightly relaxing and slightly weird. Once Shuichi had settled down and had a movie on to occupy himself to keep the odd feeling at bay. About halfway in the middle of the movie that was playing to relax, came a distinct sound... That of rustling, as if a raccoon or possum had somehow made their way into the quiet home and started riffling through bags and skittering around. The only thing that made it worse, was that it was footsteps, trying to be quiet, and by bags, meant a window being opened. With no one else in the house, it was safe to say... Someone just broke in without having to shatter in glass. 

Shuichi was quick to hear the rusting sound that had reverberated through the house. He quickly stood up from his spot on the couch, hearing the quiet footsteps make their way through the house. His heartbeat picked up quickly as he looked around for something, he could use to defend himself with. He didn’t really see anything that would work to defend himself with... except for the handcuffs he had gotten today tucked away in his pocket. He placed on hand at the top of his pocket as he started to walk slowly out of the room, glancing around the corner to see who had just broken into the house through the window. 

The sound seemed to have originated from upstairs, but he was shit out of luck once he turned the corner to get there, only to have a person leaning by the kitchen's doorway. They wore a grinning fox mask, much like-no wait, it was the same one as before! The exact same sly grinning mask, settled onto someone with the escaped mental asylum get up with that dictator type hat over their hair, casually leaning against the living room's doorway. They raised a gloved finger, waggling it, " Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't try anything if I were you..." They said, again with that voice changer... However, Shuichi was able to recognize the voice as the one he heard from 'Rudolf' the night before. The stranger held up the living room's phone and removed the battery pack from it. " Don't do anything too stupid, I have this place surrounded." 

Shuichi widened his eyes when he had saw the intruder in the house, wearing the same sly-grinning mask that he had seen before, along with the dictator hat and the mental asylum get-up. He kept his hand on the top of his pocket, just in case. But not moving, as instructed. His mind also raced on the possibility that this place was actually surrounded. If it was, someone was bound to notice and call for help, if it wasn’t he might be able to easily get out of this situation and handcuff the intruder. But for now, he remained still. “ Wh-What are you here for...?” He spoke in a more serious tone. 

Then came the child-like behavior, completely masked over the threatening tone, " Awww, no need to be scared~! I won't do anything, I promise~! Overlord scout's honor!" They raised up a peace sign while putting the un-working phone down and stuffing the battery into their pocket. " My business is also yours, Detective!" They reached into their other pocket, pulling out a small gold statue of a dog like creature in a sitting position, in a bag. The other hand quickly swept behind their back to pull out and taunt Shuichi with his ha-HOW DID THEY GET HIS HAT?! 

Shuichi had widened his eyes in a panic when he had seen the intruder holding his hat, quickly patting the top of his head, and realizing that his hat was gone. He felt so... exposed. His face lit up in an embarrassed flush, completely thrown off from his normal rational thinking “ H-Hey! Give that back!” He spoke, quickly and frantically. He took a few steps towards the masked overlord, reaching out towards him slightly in an attempt to get the item he, debatably, cherished the most back. 

The masked stranger giggled in amusement, taking a small step back, " Oh wooooow, so this hat does mean a lot to you, huh? Don't worry, I won't shred it, why would I? Though..." They looked at it in their hand, flipping it around, checking all over it as if to see what was so precious about it like Shuichi made it out to be. " I know you're new. But I can sense some greatness in you. I see, potential. But with this little hat... You shield yourself from the very risks that may happen. Scared to show confidence. Even now, you're terrified and you want it back oh so badly." They gave a small sad sigh, " I may be asking for too much, but... First time I saw you, you chased after me. And you had just gotten into town. In the museum there wasn't a badge and yet, you talked to me out of some moral law in. I want to help you out of your shell. I want a challenge. I wanna' have some fun!" 

Shuichi was baffled that a member of a gang would want to... help him out of his shell? He felt like he was being played with for amusement and he didn’t like it... he didn’t even know who this person was behind the voice modulator and the mask, so why should he trust him when it came to something like this. Shuichi started to get a little frustrated at the situation. “ I... If you want to play games with me so badly you have to participate too!” He spoke out “ I... If you’re forcing me to come out of ‘my shell’ then you have to come out of yours too. If yo-you take my hat... then I want your mask.” 

The stranger took a quick step back, making the sound of a whine from disappointment, " Oh but I do want to play. I'm participating by just talking to you... But don't you know, if I gave you my identity already, you'd easily just turn me in. Sure, you wouldn't have evidence, but what fun is it in already knowing? Besides, the mask? It's not a shell... It's for mine and the others protection. We live in a day in age of phones, videos, fingerprints, and DNA identification..." They sighed, still fussing with the hat in their hand, " I want to help you be more confident in yourself. But so far, you want an easy out. What's a game to a detective that isn't 'solving' the mystery behind the man in the mask? Like for instance, how did I even get here? How did I know where YOU even live~? I'll answer you some questions if you'd like. I enjoyed that game, just don't expect a hard truth." They seemed to be putting out small strings of bait, hidden as small various hints. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly at the masked intruders’ words, some part of him knowing it just wouldn’t be that easy going into it. But the questions he was asked did spur some thoughts into him about the intruder knew where he had lived. He thought about it for a few moments, falling into the small strings of bait that had been put out to him that seemed to get him back on track and off of the topic of his hat. He thought for a good solid minute or so before speaking bluntly “ R-Rantaro and Saionji are members of D.I.C.E. and possibly Miu as well.” He then started to explain himself “Well...” He mumbled softly, thinking out loud “ There are one of two ways that you could of known...either you have connections with someone at the agency who has access to person files and leaked my address. But that’s highly unlikely... the other possibility as that you yourself have been here or if one of the members of the gang have been here and knew I lived inside. That just leaves a few possibilities then... Kaito obviously isn’t a part of your gang, I don’t think he’d compromise his ‘Brave and manly’ facade by wrapping himself in Hello Kitty wrapping paper and if he was a part of the gang, getting inside he museum using a device that nullifies electronic devices would be pointless. Kaede isn’t part of the gang I don’t think, because she has very strong morals about certain topics and isn’t one to be easily swayed. Same with Maki, even though she has a sometimes-threatening disposition she has strong morals as well... that just leaves... Rantaro, Saionji, and Hajime. Hajime is in a high position at the agency and wouldn’t want his position to be compromised if people figured out, he was a part of the gang. Also, wouldn’t embarrass himself publicly if he had to. So... my guess is that you learned where I live from Rantaro and Saionji. 

Earlier while they were here Kaito had been talking about how he would be more prepared if you guys struck the museum again, and Saionji had smirked and Rantaro had chuckled as a reaction to her smirk. Like he knew what the smirk was for. Miu also lives with them and it would be pretty hard to hide a secret like that from someone like her. She was in a position to fabricate a lie about how she was ‘commissioned’ by an unknown buyer to make the device that was used to infiltrate the museum. So, she’s most likely a member or cooperates with the gang... So, are you satisfied?” 

The masked intruder wistfully spun the hat around, sounding bored as they sighed, " Wow..... Really? Really?!" They sound rather... disappointed. " Jeez, all I wanted was you to ask some simple questions like... How did you know where I lived? What member are you? Instead, you overshot and over thought everything in the platter I just handed you... You think Hiyoko-out of all people would be in on this? A little piece of shit who want to be so innocent could be a member of my great stature of members? Good god maybe am I am hoping for too much here. Iruma is a clumsy blonde who trips over her own tits and perverted nature. Amami as well? Your rather quick to jump on people you just don't know, huh? That's rather petty of you. I know detective need to pick suspects but, even you should know when to divide the line. Just because someone is creepy doesn't always mean they're evil. Haven't you heard don't judge a book by its cover? There are bad, bad people in the world... Sometimes the ones you know best aren't who they seem. Though I will give you a scrap, none of your friends could ever be in my group..." Their once excited tone lowered into a dull monotoned voice. " I was going to be the one to answer you, not the other way around to a rhetorical question. So, since I'm kind..." The mask snapped to him, hiding a lowered menacing voice underneath, " I'll give you a second chance... Or do you want to fail at answering your own question again?" 

Shuichi didn’t want to blow off what his gut reactions to things were anymore...not when he had good reason to believe he was right. He... usually was right with these kinds of things, and the whole day he had been burying his gut instinct when it came to all of these things. He shook his head, being emotionally brave for once and taking a leap before looking at the masked face. “ You’re lying.” He spoke, confidently “ You’re trying to dismiss my thoughts by making me abandon them and move towards a question you probably won’t even give a full answer for anyway. You’re also trying to diminish me for thinking what I do, trying to emotionally manipulate me into the situation you want. If it’s a challenge you want, if it’s fun you want, then maybe I’ll disregard completely what you say because it seems like a lot of people might take your words as truth. You’re right, it’s my job as a detective to pick suspects then pick them apart. There is no line, because in a case everyone is a suspect until proven fully innocent. I’m not picking ‘the creepy people’ it just so happens that these people are the most likely at the moment to be a suspect.” He stepped forward, being bold. “ If it’s a game you want maybe I’ll just take them in for questioning.” 

The one in the fox mask shook their head sadly, " Fine... Go on ahead. Towa will be delighted in interviewing them a fifth time, maybe he'll finally just up and lock them away without evidence again." They went back to sounded to just being generally upset. " I'm not trying to diminish your thoughts; I'm trying to help you on not wasting time and being wrong. If you keep fucking up in the eyes of your chief, things will go badly... They did for Hinata. But you probably just think I'm lying again. That's fine, most people can't handle these types of things." 

Shuichi crossed his arms while standing there, trying to analyze the tone of voice that the masked person was using along with his body language. If he really was who he claimed to be, then why would they want him to get off a wrong subject? Or why did they care if something bad happened to them? He sighed slightly, brushing a piece of hair that had fallen onto his face behind his ear. A piece of hair that would usually stay there if he had his hat on. “ F-Fine,” He mumbled softly, then talking almost in a sarcastic cheerful “ Oh wow, how did you know that I lived here?” He asked. 

The other grumbled, " Smartass... Anyways, I'll let you know to ask Hinata what happens when you do fuck up. Go on and bring innocent people in, your chief would just love it." They counter acted with their own sarcastic joyfulness. " I'll give one last scrap. Tell Hinata you met the leader of DICE themselves. If you don't believe me on any of these then there's no need to ask." They took in a deep breath, obviously trying to slide back into a mood they were fond of, the childlike one. " Look, I'll give you a deal, because I'm suuuuuch a nice guy, upupupup~!" They held up the two prized objects as if they were dug up buried treasure finally being shown light once again for years. " Now I know this is all sudden since you just got here, but you entice me. So, I can give you your hat and I won't bother you, won't talk to you, go back to toying with the other boring detectives, and you can remain in ignorant bliss, hiding away under your hat you value such. Oooor... I can give you the statue and you can see how far the white rabbit can run before you catch him. So, what'll it be?" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes at the deal that had been made. He thought for a few moment on what it really meant to choose which option. If he chose his hat, he would get something precious to him back and he would go about a ‘normal’ detective’s career. If he chose the statue... something that two people had wanted to see back in the museum would be returned, and that means D.I.C.E would interact more with him. Which means that there was a higher chance that he could catch and reveal all of the members of the gang... he thought long and hard for a solid couple minutes before extending his hand it and mumbling softly “ The statue... I-I’ll take the statue back.” 

The stranger seemingly tossed the statue to the detective who more than likely fumbled to catch it, quickly realizing how light it was... Upon further inspection, it was just gold painted tin foil that had been put over the statue to gain form. The intruder giggled in amusement from Shuichi's changing expression before walking over and handing him another bag with the real heavy statue and phone's battery. " Upupupu, the look on your face... But you chose, so here you go Detective." With that they turned around and tossed the hat over their shoulder to him, " I may be an evil overlord, but I wouldn't dare tear something precious away from someone. Like I said, there are bad, bad people in the world. Ones that take everything you have and kick you while you're down. But that's a line I just can't cross... Hope I don't see the hat to hide yourself in. I like seeing your face~." They turned around; Shuichi could have sworn a huge grin hid under that mask as they said that. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes switch a shocked expression on his face when he saw the fake statue, but then he grabbed the other bag that was given to him and sighed softly when he felt the heaviness of the statue in that bag this time. He then listened to the intruder, blushing when his face as called cute. He reached up to put his hat on his head to hide his face from embarrassment but had stopped in the process of doing it. He then lowered his arm, glancing off to the side, being able to tell that the intruder was definitely smirking under their mask. 

The intruder just walked over to the front door as if it was no big deal, before stopping and putting up a finger, " Ohoho! Right, silly me. About on where I knew you were, it wasn't anything convoluted as having people tell me. I just happen to know lots of things-" They eerily tilted their head over their shoulder, letting the bright red eye glow somehow into a more radiant red, flashing out, topped off with the voice modifier lowering down to a distorted and demonic pitch, " LOTS OF THINGS..." The red light ceased, and they snickered, " Oh by the way~!" The thief called out, unlocking the front door, still visible from the doorway. " You should really lock your doors and windows better, or some crazy criminal might sneak in and do whatever." They snickered while looking back to him, the laughing matching the wide grin of the fox mask. " Oh and one last thing... Shuichi. You have a nice name... Well, bye~!" They said before rushing out the door and closing it to leave the detective stunned, but thankfully with the stolen artifact in one piece. Meanwhile with the stranger, they sprinted down a block before drifting into an ally and removing the mask and stuffed it into a small bag. They peered out and looked around the street for a certain someone to pick them up. 

Shuichi was slightly disturbed by the sudden distorted pitch of the voice and the red eye that seemed to be glowing from his mask. He was left in the dust when the masked intruder had left out of the door and closed the door behind him. He glanced down at the bag and his hat in his hands, his face heating up. They had thought... he had a nice name...? And that his face was pretty...? He blushed even more out of embarrassment.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gonta, who had been admiring a small moth that flew by was standing there in the snow, comfortably wrapped up in many layers of warmth to protect him from the cold. He suddenly snapped out of it, remembering he had to pick up his colleague. Since he had already parked his car not too far from where he said he'd meet up with Kokichi, he figured that a small walk wouldn't hurt at all. After a short minute, he arrived on the street that he was instructed to find the grape demon at. The much smaller and wiry built boy took a blank blink before running over to Gonta, " There you are, you big goober! Jeez, for such a big guy, it's kinda hard to find you at times." The purple haired boy sighed lightly before shivering, " Brrr-God it's cold! L-Let's hurry up!" He said quickly, pushing into the more toned male, keeping his eyes clear for any pedestrians who might see them. 

" Gonta apologizes! Here, Gonta will give Kokichi jacket." The dark green haired male then removed the coat he wore on top of the other layers of clothing. He wrapped it around the shorter male, making sure it wasn't too uncomfortable and that the bottom of the coat wouldn't slide against the icy ground. " There! Coat will help Kokichi stay warmer", His voice drops to a quieter tone, " And hide him from seekers." 

Kokichi stepped back a bit, putting his hands up to decline the charitable idea, " Ah-no, no, no, Gonata it's okay, I-Ack!" It wasn't that he was that cold, he just wanted to get home and think up of something... That and Gonta's jacket was always a bit on the heavy side, as he found himself grabbing it to hold it up. With a quiet sigh he gave a small smile, " Thanks Gonta. Let's get back home okay?" He walked with the friendly giant and thought about some mixed feelings towards the guy. He had tricked the lug into helping with D.I.C.E at times, but since he was a member, it meant he was something of family to the sly trickster, which made him feel bad for having to trick him. He slowly started to drift into his thoughts of how he had met the others while the two headed back to the apartments. 

Once they had reached the apartments, Gonta would open the door to let the other in first. He kept the door open by letting it rest against his back as he cleaned off his glasses, which had little specks of water due to the little pieces of snow that he hadn't notice until now. "How was it?", The taller male would ask, placing his glasses back to where they belong, " Kokichi visiting new detective?" 

Kokichi trudged up the chilly stair's railings, thanking himself for wearing gloves. He flashed a smile to the kind giant, " Oh, it went well! He's kinda' shy, but I think you'd like him if you met him." His grin stayed on as the two went into one of the apartments, finally sighing out in relief to gain some warm air back onto his body. " Honey we're home~!" He called out to anyone who was in the apartment. His close-knit group of friend and accomplices were always moving to between apartments, so it was natural for anyone to be there 

Sitting in the apartment that Kokichi had walked into was none other than the hope-infatuated Star-Lucks barista, the pink haired and jagged toothed mechanic, and the potty-mouthed inventor. Komaeda looked up from his spot on the couch as the two had walked in, giving them a big smile “ Welcome back you two!” 

Kazuichi was tinkering with something on the coffee table in the living room, paying attention to his work so he had only mumbled a soft “ Hey,” in response. 

Miu was helping the mechanic with his work, along with trying to make up new inventions of her own. She looked towards the two and shouted rather loudly “ Hey numb nuts! How did raiding the fresh meat’s house go?” 

A fiery red haired boy who was adjusting some strings on a guitar quickly looked over as he sat near the luckster, " There you are! Where the fuck did you go?! You made Gonta have to drive, and that in itself is a scary thought, no offense big guy." 

"Gonta take no offense" The giant headed over to the kitchen and set down the car keys before removing the other layers of clothing he wore right until he was just wearing a T-shirt and black jeans. " Kokichi was busy with 'important business'." Gonta then ventured farther into the kitchen where the cupboards were, pulling out a mug. " Since Gonta is in kitchen already, does anyone want drinks or a snack?" 

The red head shook, " Nah, it's okay big guy. But seriously, where were you?! You know we get worried sometimes 'cuz we're not there with you." 

Kokichi flopped onto the couch next to him, " One panta there Gonta! And Leon, you worry way too much in such a loud way." 

Leon stopped fiddling with the instrument and gave a hinting glare, " Well of course. The one time I tried being nice to chill someone down, almost made me loose a fucking pinky!" 

" We told you that actress is nutso. Anyhoo, I told Rantaro, Saionji, Ibuki, and Gonta, see. No need to worry about anything." The other muttered under his breath, something about pre-rehearsal jitters and her not being at fault. " And besides all that, Miu, I shall let you know, I call dibs on him. We all know how quick you are to whore yourself out to low lives, but this one's got potential, so save it for some idiot who doesn't matter, okay~?" He clicked his tongue, doing the shooting guns gesture. 

Miu clicked her tongue slightly when Kokichi had spoken to her, then started to scribble more on her blueprints while multi-tasking and talking to Kokichi. “ So, the twerp has ‘potential’? What does that mean, potentially open to having your dick in his ass?” She remarked, cackling slightly to herself. 

Kazuichi had heard Gonta yell from the kitchen if anyone had wanted anything, quickly turning around and shouting to him “ Can you get me one of the really strong energy drink stuff in there? What was it called... uh... oh! The demon kind!” He spoke, planning to be up for a while to finish this thing he was working on. 

Leon sneered, " Or the other way around knowing how desperate he is-AHH!" Leon yelped out as a couch pillow was chucked at his head from the unruly Kokichi. 

" Don't disrespect your leader, underling!" 

The red head brushed through his spikes muttering bitterly, " Not when we're home and in public dipshit." Gonta heard the sharp toothed member and smiled, grabbing what he needed to make hot coco for himself before opening the refrigerator. The bug lover pulled out a perfectly chilled grape flavored panta and Demon Kind, setting it on the counter for the two to grab. The dark green haired male then prepared his own drink, which didn't require much time. Kokichi thanked the bug loving giant before opening it up and taking in a large amount of the drink. 

A bit after the two had settled down, Gonta enjoying his nice mug of hot chocolate, in came the other two who had helped Kokichi's wild little task. Saionji was the first to enter and practically jump into Gonat's lap like a kitten or puppy, " NEH! We're home... How was your date?" She asked before retrieving a small plastic jar with an abnormally fluffy moth in it. " Also, for you, found it outside hanging around the lights." 

Gonta gasped out, gently taking the jar before giving Saionji a hug, making sure not to crush her. " Thank you, Saionji!" He released her soon after and holds up the jar, almost as if he were appraising it. 

Kokichi rolled his eyes, greeting Rantaro in, he then stuck his tongue out at her, both communicating like children. He leaned back in the couch and shifted his eyes to the lighter green haired boy, " Pth, it was not a date. Though your advice was right and that he took off that stupid hat. Gave the statue back, but whatever-" 

Leon jerked his head over, " YOU WHAT?! WHAT HAPPEN TO THE FAKE?!" 

" Gave it to him with the real one." 

The small blonde teamed with Leon and squealed out, " WHY?!" 

" Beeecause, it wasn't important." Kokichi's tone lowered before throwing his hands up and putting on a nasty grin, " They'll more than likely be distracted by the statue coming back, so that we can get the real prize they hid until now. That 'rare' book. We could make a lot of money off that... Or maybe we should aim for something else somewhere else..." The mischievous grin grew into a more sinister one. 

Rantaro had plopped down in front of the coffee table on the floor where Miu and Kazuichi had been working when he came in, looking at what the two were coming up with. Kazuichi at this point had already drank half of his energy drink, and his knee was bouncing up and down as he turned the finest screw on the device in his hand. His tongue was sticking out of his lips slightly as he focused, not taking in the conversation that was happening around him. Komaeda was interested in the fact that Kokichi would just give away something they had stolen away back just like that. But, was happy to know that instead they were going after something so much bigger. “ Yes! After all, since it must have been so despair inducing to give a detective something back you had stolen less than 24 hours ago, that means we’ll definitely have success and good luck in going after something even bigger!“ He grinned, seeming truly happy but in a slightly off-putting way. 

Rantaro then looked up to them, continuing the conversation “ But, you said that the new detective had potential, right?” He started to ask, “ What makes you think they’ll be easily distracted by the statue this time if you think they have someone worth appraising on their side now?” 

The purple haired imp giggled, " See, Komaeda gets it!" His focus turned to his old-time friend as he unraveled his checkerboard like bandana from the back. " Because... What we hit next won't be until next Friday. They'll be too focused and shocked on how mister detective was able to get the statue back so easily. You know how Haiji is. He spends too much time overthinking things that have already happened, not preparing for the upcoming inevitable. They'll think the detective is so good until we strike for real. They'll be disappointed yes, but the potential I see, is just someone who isn't boring to be chased by. I'm tired of the same old same old." 

Leon scoffed out, " Right, then what'll happen if he doesn't live up to your games?" 

Kokichi shrugged as he got out the last knot, " Then I stop interacting with him, just like the others." He sighed a bit, tossing off the bandanna, gently rubbing the scarred skin around his neck. Leon chose to avert his gaze along with Saionji. They never liked looking at them, and if someone focused too much on them, Kokichi would become highly upset. The only people who seemed not to mind was Gonta who was to encased with the moth, Kazuichi, focused on his handiwork, Komadea having his fair share of marks, and Rantaro who was there to see when the younger boy got them. 

Miu had seen Kokichi take off his bandanna and throw it off to the side, taking that as a queue to continue working on her blueprints for her latest invention. Komaeda hadn’t reacted strongly to Kokichi’s scars at all, just continuing to act as he normally did without staring at Kokichi at all. Rantaro had raised a brow at Kokichi’s explanation of the situation, sighing softly and glancing up at his face. He didn’t stare at the marks on his neck at all, hardly even paying attention to them after he’s seen them so often and after he was there when the purple haired boy had gotten them. “ And are you sure you won’t be too involved with that detective?” He asked, crossing his arms slightly. “ I know how you get sometimes Kokichi,” he spoke “ Playing around with this detective shouldn’t interfere with our main goal of this gang, riiiiight?” 

The smaller male snatched out his normal garish purple and orange scarf, wrapping it around before plunging himself in the corner at the side of the couch to pull out his ratty makeshift bear that was sewn together in the middle, holding it, " Don't worry. All the others became so tedious and boring. I know when to pull out, right Miu?!" He laughed out as he got a thumbs up and giggle from Saionji. 

Miu had cackled loudly when Kokichi had made the dirty comment, making finger guns at him and yelling “ You’re fuckin’ right!” Kazuichi sighed softly, as the comment being made was a part of the conversation, he had heard from just tuning in. 

Leon groaned out, " And what should we shoot for if we don't go after the book?", he inquired, slightly tilting his head. Gonta, who was either really oblivious or just ignoring the atmosphere would just softly pat Saionji's head as well as study the moth contained in it's temporary plastic home. Thus, another reason the gentle giant was given the moth, to distract him from the criminally planned thoughts floating about among the air around him. 

Kokichi tapped his finger on his lower lip, in thought. " Hrm... Well, there is that actual Tiera that will be on the 'princess' at the theater next week~. I doubt the guy playing The Beast would put up a fight on stage. Though, Saionji and Ibuki wouldn't get to help this time I'm afraid." Saionji let out a groan mixed with a whine but did understand. No one could be involved in their workplace, it'd raise suspicion. 

Nagito’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the real tiara being used at the theater. “ Wow, that would be awesome!” He then put a finger on his chin slightly “ But there would be a ton of people if we went during the show, and I bet the tiara would be stored somewhere secretly so no one would be able to steal it... it might be pretty tough.” 

Rantaro shook his head “ No, if it is hidden Ibuki and Saionji would be able to figure out where it’s hidden and be able to tell us. And the people are no problem, we could just use some fireworks or some kind of harmless smoke bomb to keep them distracted. Miu could totally make those things.” 

Miu gave a thumbs up at the suggestion “ Can do Vag-taro!” 

Rantaro deadpanned at the new nickname that he had gotten “ Really? Did you run out of nicknames or something?” 

Miu glared “ Oh, shut up you fucking virgin!” 

" Pth, we all know you're trying to hard anyways, Miu In Use." Saionji spluttered out, placing a hand over her mouth, and looking up to the entomologist. Gonta, was more than occupied by the tiny thumps the moth had made while trying to escape it's plastic confinement. Saionji took the spare time to get off from Gonta's lap, so that he may go put the moth in one of the many aquariums he had in his own room, or whatever he did with the insects. 

Kokichi showed a toothy grin, " We don't need to worry about finding it. It'll be right in full view~. I would like to go for a dramatic opening, but we'd need some new outfits to fit in the play~." He snickered, carefully planning within his mind. " Miu would need to use her Electro-bomb... Get some smoke bombs, some wire... Yeah, we could pull that off!" 

" All right!" Leon agreed in full anticipation, pumping a fist up into the air. As Gonta did leave so he could put the moth away, Leon slowly put his hand back down., " Is that all? Or do you think we need one last thing? While we're at that, we should leave with a bang as well?" 

Kokichi pointed a finger up, enlightened by the idea he was passed, " OH MAN! I almost forgot about leaving! Of course! An enticing show needs an extravagant ending to wrap up on! Nishishi~! I say some sparklers, don't want to get too fancy. Fireworks can start a fire and hurt someone. We'll also need some smoke proofed goggles in those masks while we're at it." He sighed at the end, " Poor guys with cameras and recorders, their devices are going to stop abruptly due to the bombs, but it's for the better. Any say?" 

Kazuichi had looked up at Kokichi, his shark-toothed grin on display as he pointed to himself with his thumb “ I can handle getting those smoke goggles into the mask no problem! I’ll make it so we’ll be able to see the whole time!~” 

Miu tapped on her chin for a second before a mischievous grin appeared on her face “ I can totally make something up for these really flashy sparklers! And what’s the fuckin’ idea, going out and buying smoke bombs when I can make them myself? Geez.” 

Komaeda nodded at Kokichi’s plan “Sounds amazing to me! ~ Just the thought of it makes me tingle!~” Miu coughed loudly, slipping in a ‘nameofyoursextape’ in between her coughs. 

Rantaro chuckled slightly at the banter between everyone before nodding “ Sounds good. Are you going to give the detectives a calling card this time? And if you do, would it be real or fake?” 

The sly little imp patted his torn up makeshift bear giggling, " Naaah. They don't deserve the treat, especially talking to mister detective. He got all rude, so, this'll be a bit of punishment for his suspicions." 

Leon's wide smirk lowered as he fumbled with his guitar, slowly peering over to the mischvious Kokichi, eyes squinting " What suspicions...?" 

" Oh right, he suspects Saionji and Rantaro-Sorry buddy." He frowned, giving the avocado a pat on the arm. 

Saionji shot up and slammed her foot down, " WHAT?! If I have to go talk face to face with that-that-Hrng-That pig fucker again, I will have you head!" 

Kokichi sighed out, " Calm your nonexistent tits, I'll get you a deluxe gummy bear package." 

The small blonde glared daggers at him, " Fine... But no stealing them.” 

With that, Kokichi snapped his full attention to her, " Wh-What?! You expect me to buy you those tiny little aborted bear snacks with my own hard-earned money?!" Saionji stayed as pissed as she stood, gaining a groan from him, " Okay fiiiine!" 

Rantaro had widened his eyes when he heard from Kokichi that the newest detective at the agency had suspected himself and Saionji. It wasn’t the first time they’ve been suspected, for sure, but it was really strange that they would be suspected by a new detective his first day on the job. Either the guy naturally had stereotypes people, or he was actually pretty good at his job... He sighed softly when Kokichi had patted him on the shoulder, glancing over towards him. “ You don’t think that he’ll act on his suspicions then?” He asked, noting that Kokichi had seemed rather calm about the whole ordeal. “At least not in a direct way? Like locking us up?” 

Miu glanced back at Rantaro, a grin on her face “ You really think Haji-gay would even let him take you guys in? After what had happened the times before? Bullshit.” She had commented before going to back to the busy work she had been doing. 

The normally hyped up boy let his lilac eyes drift away from his older friend, " If he does, he'll be in a hefty amount of trouble. Haiji doesn't like fruitless endeavors. We all know this." 

Leon scoffed, " Yeah, we've been through like what? Six detectives if you include Hajime? And besides that, if Hajime goofs up again, he'd be out of the job. I don't think he'd be willing to throw his job out on the line for another damn folly. New partner or not, he wouldn't risk it. So, at the very least, new guy will get in trouble instead." 

Saionji groaned, " Whatever, enough of the serious shit. My question is why you wanted to know where that twinky detective lives anyways? It was just by chance that we met him there." 

The ever so indulgent Kokichi who normally babbled on, went eerily silent for a moment, questioning himself why he had asked his team to figure it out if he wasn't able to. To be fair, he had done that to the other detectives to toy with them, but Shuichi was new. " To keep tabs on." He finally answered. 

Miu laughed to herself when Saionji had called the new detective ‘twinkish’, but not looking away from her work. Rantaro had raised a brow when Kokichi had went silent at the last question he was asked as to why he had wanted to know the address of the new detective, knowing that something was definitely up with that but not going to ask about it any further. He doubted that he would even get another answer other than what he had said anyway. Leon stretched out his limber limbs, "Anyways, I think I'm gonna throw in the towel for tonight. Goodnight!" 

" Niiiiiight Leon~!" Kokichi waved, back to his peppy self. The rest of the night he spent was trying to scoot away from Gonta who insisted to show him his new bug... Along with Kazuichi who was desperately avoiding the giant. And all while the small blonde laughed at them before finally agreeing to look at the bug so the others wouldn't wake the rest of the tenants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haiji is from Another Episode and he's an asshole...


	5. I'll Be Satisfied If I Play Along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get use to morning, going to the diner, doing job, going home, and sleep people...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had edited it so in the beginning, Shuichi stammered and stuttered a lot. Without his hat and a slow gain of confidence, the stuttering isn't as much.

The sun slowly peaked out of the horizon, turning the once grayish blue skies into a slight pinkish orange color. Shuichi, who hadn't got much sleep last night was soundly sleeping, the bag containing the hidden statue was safely tucked under his bed, right where the headboard was. He was comfortably warm, and the bed was too soft to get out of, much like the morning prior to this one. He could only hope that whoever was watching above would damn the individual who dared to wake him up during what he deemed ' the ass crack of dawn'. On time, the door flung open... But only a tad. Kaito stuck his purple head through and looked to the sleeping detective in a worried manner, " Hey sleepy, mornin'. Ya' doin' okay?" He walked in, sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing a hand through his violet hair. " Kaede and Maki-Roll told me that before I got home last night, you were already asleep, and that you had a hard time trying to get to sleep because of somethin'. Ya' didn't tell 'em, but well, it's the next day. You can tell us if somethin's wrong man." 

Shuichi was encapsulated by the warm-ness of his bed, letting the comfortable feeling seep into him and reality seeming to fade away if only for a moment. That’s when reality made Kaito open the door and question about what had happened last night. He took a deep breath seconds after Kaito had asked him why he didn’t sleep very well last night, thinking about what he should say. He sighed slightly, sitting up in his bed and looking at Kaito without bothering to grab his hat, which was situated on his nightstand. He then started to speak softly “ T-There...There was a break in last night, here.” He spoke “ Apparently being a new detective that’s been de-deemed to have ‘potential’ warrants an unexpected visit where the leader of D.I.C.E comes through the window of the house and tries to... fix me...?” 

Kaito's eyes widened a bit before nodding and patting Shuichi's shoulder, " I'll go give the others the word then. You just rest up man. Give ya' thirty more minutes then your is up no matter what. Just a precaution buddy." He softly patted his childhood friend's shoulder that hid under the warm blankets before walking himself out the room and downstairs, looking disheveled. 

Maki looked over from helping with some of the dishes that had been used to make the early food. " I'm unsure what exactly would have happened to spook him. I came in and he looked scared or sick... The doors and windows were all closed once I got here." She closed her eyes to think to herself. " He wouldn't tell me a damn thing and persisted to go sleep, did you get any luck at cracking what's wrong?" 

Kaito rubbed the back of his neck, teeth gritting, " D.I.C.E. broke in. The leader as a matter of fact, saying something about fixing hi-" 

Maki quickly shot her sight to Kaito, quickly pulling out a sharpened blade that she had just cleaned, a sigh of no mercy in her eyes, " I'll 'fix' them. Go get me a rubber band-" 

The taller male threw his hands up in panic, " W-Woah! M-Maki! Maki... Maki-Roll... C-Calm down now. N-No one d-deserves to be castrated-please put the knife down." He whined out in fear for his own. 

Kaede was helping Maki clean up the dishes, looking over at her with a slightly disapproving look “ Maki!” She puffed her cheeks out and pouted “ I understand wanting to hurt them but it’s not morally right!” She sighed softly, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. “ I know you’re concerned for him, we all are, but all we are able to do right now, or should do right now, is just support him... not... threaten to ‘fix’ people using a rubber band and a knife.” 

The crimson eyed girl gave a small sigh and apologized for her sudden rash nature bubbling out as she put the knife down and fussed with a strand of hair. Kaito put up his hands, " Okay, enough Maki-Roll. None of that talk during near The Holidays. Kaede's right, all we can do is support 'em. And sides that, he's got a good partner to keep his head on his shoulders. And besides all that, he's got us!" He brushed his knuckles against each other in a wave of determination. 

The quiet girl's hard cold demeanor melted to a small smile, " I'm sure we'll make sure to watch over him and be there for him, whether he thinks he needs it or not then." 

The purple haired male gave a strong smile. " Exactly!" Kaito said giving his signature flashy grin and thumbs up to his friend, meanwhile having Maki just nod a bit in agreement. Shuichi could hear the slight shuffling of the people downstairs walking out the door, mainly Kaito and Maki who had to be at their work fairly early. Which left him alone in bed with Kaede rereading her notes of music for the upcoming play. 

While this was taking place, Shuichi was sitting up in his bed and thinking about what happened last night. Sure, he was spooked and all about what had happened last night, and had gotten a slap in the face when yet another person told him he needed to ‘break out of his shell’ in one form or another. Maybe... everyone was right. Maybe he did really need to stop being so shy, he was a detective after all for Pete’s sake, he should have more confidence....his friends were also worried about him, how he reacted to D.I.C.E breaking in. It wasn’t right for him to worry them. He sighed, throwing the safety and comfort of the blankets to the side as he had gotten up and out of his bed. 

Sooner or later there was a knock at the door. Some chattering consisted into what may have been Hajime's voice. Kaede had opened the door and greeted Hajime with a bright smile on her face. “ Oh! Hi! I’m pretty sure Shuichi should be down in just a minute he-“ She looked back and saw Shuichi stepping towards the front door. 

He had worn the same kind of outfit as yesterday, except one piece was missing. His hat. He also was holding a bag that had contained the heavy statue in his hand. He walked up towards the door, acting little everything was normal. Maybe just a little nervous. “ G... Good morning..!” He spoke out with a soft smile on his face, gripping onto the bag tightly as he looked at both Hajime and Kaede. Kaede was in a slight shock when she saw Shuichi without his hat, caught off guard. But then a warm smile spread across her face, replaced by a happy feeling. She didn’t know what the hat loss was a result was, but she was glad Shuichi seemed to be okay and that he could function without something to hide behind. Within the moments of the tired detective finally getting up, Hajime greeted him, not even noticing the sudden loss of the precious cap. Mostly due to the fact, he didn't know how crucial it really was to the navy haired boy. 

They hunkered down in the warmed up and snug car that kept the cold out. " Alright, today we need to look for clues down the street Miu met up with our 'mystery person.' If I remember properly that street is near the town's Yakuza territory, but since it's Wednesday, their aggressive patrol shouldn't be out. So, we don't need to deal with that bitch." Shuichi nods, mentally noting that he should probably not head towards that street on a different day alone. However, Hajime's curiosity was peeked as he drove to the usual diner, " You uhh... You ok? You look a bit tired." He asked out of worry for his new partner. He'd rather not want to mess this task and responsibility up so soon. 

Shuichi had nodded at Hajime’s analysis of the leader’s actions, glancing over at him. “ That’s exactly wha-what I had thought as well,” he spoke “the motives behind not only this encounter but the motives in general concerning the whole gang are attention-seeking and childish... i-it makes me wonder if that’s there only motive or if there was a big event that fueled the fire and that’s why the gang is pulling pranks on the entire town.” He then looked off to the side “ B-But anyway...I really do suspect that Rantaro, Saionji, and Miu are members of D.I.C.E.... even if there’s no solid evidence against them there are some things that happened that point to them, Rantaro and Saoinji especially. There’s no way that the gang could have known where I lived if one of the members hadn’t been there before...and so when Rantaro and Saoinji ca-came over last night..” 

Hajime caught up with his thoughts as he noticed the sudden shift from the suspicions as he started the car, ideally listening to him, " Ah... Good luck with that." He scoffed lightly, showing a side that Shuichi would rather not mess with. His eyes and voice went cold and harsh, " I'm not risking my ass on another fuck up. They've been tried nine time before, and like hell am I going to lose my damn job because I help accuse them. If you want to bring them in that badly, you do it by yourself... People around who know them will start to deem you as a paranoid and petty type of guy..." He gave a loud sigh, not adjusting his sight from the road, " Shuichi... Do you know why you we're chosen to be my partner and not anyone else's?" Before the shyer boy could even open his mouth, Hajime gripped the steering wheel, " Don't actually answer that... It's because the chief is testing me. He wants to see if I'll mess up again. Have my badge and leave me out for the wolves to eat. I can see you're a good guy, but I'm warning you now. Don't face the hand to the one who will bite it." 

Shuichi had listened to the more serious tone that Hajime was using when talking about this, being able to tell right away that if he wanted to peruse this he would have to do it on his own. Just...kind of just like the leader of D.I.C.E had said to him last night when they were speaking. “ Don’t worry, I... I wouldn’t even do anything to try and jeopardize your position at all...” He spoke with a soft yet confident smile on his face. “ I-If anything, I’ll wait...I’m sure eventually I’ll find substantial evidence that would put even the leader in a tight spot. I w-won’t bring anyone to trail or take anyone in unless I’m absolutely sure... I’ll just have to follow my hunches into the lead me to somewhere.” 

The older male looked down in shame from being somewhat selfish, " Thanks... S-Sorry, it's just. I can't lose myself again." Again he interrupted, sighing out from the sudden suppressed stress and tension crawling on his back, " They're tired of us and have moved onto you, or think of us as too stupid to be fun teasing, though they still do it. They're drawing you out directly because you're new but tend to shy away from some things. Can't tell if they're a criminal genius or just stupid kid... I'm sorry they might be targeting you. Could be the department's fault or even mine for not filling their expectations." 

Eventually The two came to the casual Hanamura Diner where again, both were greeted by the wondrous aroma of breakfast and freshly brewed coffee. Hajime took his seat, ordering his normal morning coffee, least he be bitchy and disgruntled for the rest of the day. " Hey Teruteru, same as usual. Since my partner is still new, I'll pay for him again. Just don't get anything expensive." He teased to the other, starting to go back to his more mellow side. 

Teruteru grinned happily from behind the food window, giving Hajime a big thumbs up “ You got it!” He spoke before going back into the kitchen to work. Shuichi had sat down in the booth with Hajime, glancing around the diner to see if anyone else was there besides them. Or, more in particularly, if the same waiter from yesterday was there again today. The waiter had sparked an interest in him, wanting to know more about the small roller-skating waiter. Something inside of him went off when he had first met the purple haired boy, he didn’t know what yet, but he was itching to try and figure it out. 

Hajime waited for their drinks, but finally cocked his head to watch his partner stare at the cleaned counter like table. Once the plump chef went into the kitchen area, Hajime's smile faltered, " Okay, what else is wrong?" He sounded serious and gave Shuichi a hard-long look, letting him know he wouldn't back down from an un-given response. " I can see something is clearly off." The slightly older male leaned back in his stool as best he could, propping an elbow on the counter to rest his chin on as he broadly looked at Shuichi, keeping his eyes locked and focused. His eyes were those of that had gone through extensive hours of reading things that would shock most people. Yet they were also calm in a sense. He gave a small sigh and shifted the hardened eyes away, " You're not wearing your hat... I hadn't realized until now-" 

" Jeez Hajime, you don't hafta' get so personal! I mean really, would you like it if I did that to you?" Came a sneering voice from the side. When both looked over, they could see Kokichi leaning his elbows on the counter, leaning right near Hajime's own personal space, making him jump back in his seat, gaining a mischievous grim from the younger boy. 

Shuichi had been hesitant when Hajime had asked him if something else was wrong, having an embarrassed look when he began to mention that he wasn’t wearing his hat today. He then was slightly startled by Kokichi’s sudden appearance, looking at him as he leaned close in Hajime’s space. Speak of the devil and he shall appear... or in this case, think of the devil. Shuichi had shaken his head at Kokichi’s statement “ N-No, it’s okay, it’s not that personal really...” He spoke with a small and nervous smile on his face. 

Kokichi's eyes darted to the two, as he set down Hajime's coffee and some cocoa for Shuichi, " So Hinata-" 

" Don't call me that." 

" How was your visit with your little barista boy yesterday~?" The purple hair boy moved further away as he expected something to happen... Which naturally did. Hajime nearly spat his drank out, but contained it, coughing from the sudden surge of heat and bitterness. " I'm just kidding! Komaeda didn't even talk about you that long... This time~" 

" Ahhh, hot, hot, hot!" Hajime put the mug down, fanning his slightly scalded tongue before giving a glare to the sly Kokichi who at this point was close to bursting into laughter. " Mind your own damn business you little nosey brat." 

Kokichi gasped out, putting the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically, " Oh, you wound me with such words! What did I ever do?" Hajime growled under his breath in a bitter manner before sipping his coffee, nearly spitting it again as he forgot to add sugar into it. Shuichi watched the interaction between Kokichi and Hajime, now knowing what to expect from yesterday. It seems like every day the purple haired waiter harassed the superior detective like that. He...also knew the barista from yesterday as well? Ko... Komaeda he thinks his name was? He was bad at remembering a lot of names all of a sudden. 

The large lilac eyes drifted to Shuichi, seeing as bothering the customer TOO much was frowned upon. He rolled over and gave a look, " Wow, you can see those bags from a mile away-" He cut himself off, gasping, " Whoa! You're not wearing hat!" 

He then looked over at Kokichi when he saw his large eyes glance over at him. He widened his eyes with an embarrassed blush when it was pointed out that his hat wasn’t on. “ O-Oh, um, yeah...!” He stuttered out, playing with the ends of his hair slightly “ I just... I just thought taking my hat off would bring me out of my shell more...” He thought to what the leader said last night, and repeated word for word what they said. “ I shielded myself away from risks that ma-may happen, too scared to show confidence...” 

Kokichi folded his arms, raising a brow, " Ohhh? So, it really was a shield? And here I was just guessing-maybe-not really, I could tell~." He leaned in almost whispering, a craft grin spreading across his face. " Nishishi, you should have ditched that thing long ago, you're eyes are quite the color. So, like, what without the hat you don't have anything else holding you back huh? Wonder what's going to happen when you come face to face with something without the safety blanket-" 

The purple haired imp got slightly closer before being grabbed by his scarf and pulled away by Hajime, yelping in the process. " Kokichi... Just leave him alone. I'm warning you." 

The other merely giggled, " Oh, and what are you going to do? Interrogate me with your boss... Again?" 

" No. I can tell Shuichi here a weakness you have." 

Kokichi's smirk grew, " Nishishi, yeah right. You don't know anything-" 

" You hate being touched; a simple hug would make you back away into the pit from whence you came." Hajime said with courage, only to get the gremlin to laugh out yet again. 

" Nishishi~! Oh Hajime, you know nothing. I crave the feeling. Only reason I don't rub up against you is because that's Komaede’s spot." The older detective released him in a flustered look of disgust, rage, and embarrassment, letting Kokichi weave away from him. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes, an embarrassed blush creeping up onto his face when Kokichi had complimented his eye color. He was just a little bit relieved when Hajime had pulled the purple haired waiter away from him. He listened to what Hajime had said about Kokichi’s weakness, wondering if it was actually true or not after the way he had reacted after Hajime had revealed it. Well... it was worth a shot, right? Anything to learn just a little more about how the boy interested and mentally worked. It might be revenge, sort of. Shuichi glanced up at him, a slightly bold yet nervous look on his face. “ So, you wouldn’t mind if I touched you, right?” He asked, trying to see if he was lying or not? “ Since you don’t seem to think I ‘belong’ to anyone o-or something of the like?” 

The purple waiter huffed a bit, rolling a bit on his skates, " Oh you belong somewhere, alright. It's called the 'force'." 

Hajime raised an objection, " We’re actually supposed to refer to it as ’the service’ now. The guidelines state that ’force’ sounds too aggressive." 

The younger clapped with his voice laced in sarcasm, " Oh, goody, goody, I didn't know they trained you to call it something else. Anyways you belong with those guys." Hajime exhaled an angry sigh from his nose as Kokichi went on. " Anyways, no. I rather not be touched, that's what perverts do silly~!" He giggled, holding a hand up to his mouth before smirking into it, " But you can look all you want." 

Embarrassed from indirectly being called a pervert, and how his words were taken in a not-so-clean-way, Shuichi watched as Hajime tried to contain his emotions when talking to Kokichi, admiring how well he was holding himself together and how much he was restraining himself. 

Hajime looked around, thanking no one else was there and slammed his palm onto the cleaned counter top, " He's not fucking frisking you, you little shit! Trust me, I'd be on him if he did anything-no offense Shuichi, just standard procedure." He scratched behind his neck, the subject being a tad un-comforting. 

Kokichi clicked his tongue, " Tsk, tsk Hajime. You should know I don't trust anyone on The Service-Force... But fiiiine, whatever! What a waste of time." He scoffed looking at his nails as if he was a dainty model and sat down on the stool next to Shuichi. " So what do you want? A hand? Because if you're planning on getting my blood, fingerprint, or cuffing me..." 

Shuichi also took no offense to Hajime's statement, understanding that rules were rules...not like he would do anything like that in the first place of course. He had jumped slightly when Kokichi sat down next to him, asking what he had wanted from him. He... didn't really think this far ahead to begin with... Shuichi cleared his throat slightly, glancing over at Kokichi before talking. " Ah...um..." He spoke out, slightly awkward and embarrassed. " I didn't really mean it; it was a lie." He spoke out, seconds later realizing that he had sounded like the purple haired waiter only just slightly. 

His superior quietly put a palm to his forehead, sighing lightly into it, or suppressing a chuckle from how Shuichi had backed out from the bold statement he had just made, The purple hair boy on the other squinted, eyeing Shuichi, and looking straight into his eyes. Now that the hat was gone, the younger detective was forced to look the sly liar in the face. Lying in a pathetic manner to him to boot. The shorter boy's lip raised to his usual smirk, " Nishishi, called it... However, you weren't lying. I know liars. I am one after all~!" He brought up his hands, shaking them a bit like jazz hands, continuing to watch Shuichi's expressions. " Here slowpoke." He said before snatching Shuichi's hand with both of his, leaning in, " See? Hajime was lying~." 

" I am not you little troll!" 

Shuichi had certainly felt more vulnerable and exposed than ever with the small boy staring straight into his eyes without the help of a hat to hide behind. He got nervous when eyes gazed directly into his, trying to look to the side to avoid direct eye contact. He was then caught off guard when he had felt Kokichi's hands grip onto his. His whole body tensed up from the feeling, definitely not used to this form of contact with anyone. Or at least, not in a long time. Heat rose to his face from the closeness, very embarrassed and caught off guard at the moment. He was sitting in the booth of the diner, now fully embarrassed just from the waiter holding his hands. He thought to himself now better he would be reacting to this if he did have his hat on, but he quickly shook the thought away. He didn't want to have to be dependent on his hat anymore. That being said, he had opened his mouth to say something to Kokichi, maybe to ask him to stop, or maybe why he chose to hold hands of all things, but he couldn't just get himself to say anything at the moment from the embarrassed and shocked state he was in. 

Shuichi however did get see the child and mischievous grin falter for a split second, or did it? it was rather hard to tell from trying to avoid eye contact from the snickering purple hair, " Awww! He's bluuuushing~! Jeez, all that from a simple holding of hands? God, Miu was right you really are some kinda' cherry virgin aren’t cha'~?" The grin turned into that of deviousness. Kokichi had found yet another weak point and was ready to exploit it in public-or well at least in front of him, his partner, and Teruteru who poked his head out from the window like a gopher seeing what all the hubbub was about. 

Before Kokichi could strike an unnecessary blow to the embarrassed detective, Hajime had gotten out of his seat and yanked Kokichi back again, this time restraining him more than he had before by the scarf. This in turn startled him yet again as he gave another yelp. " Okay that's enough. I was trying to go easy on you, but you just gotta' push it." Hajime wanted to watch over Shuichi, and noticing another weak point, meant he needed to cover that up quickly before it got bigger. " Real weakness, he hates anyone near his neck. Case and point..." He splayed a hand to Kokichi who was mildly flailing, half smiling, and half in panic. 

" T-TERUTERU! The police are picking on me again!" Kokichi called out, making Hajime let go in an instant, letting the weasel slip away. 

Shuichi had been more embarrassed when called a virgin, his face heating up more and becoming more red. He then widened his eyes slightly when Hajime had yanked Kokichi off him by the scarf that was tied around his neck and saw how strongly the purple haired boy had seemed to react to it. He saw the waiter trying to keep up his act, but also saw the genuine look of panic that was on his face. He was… surprised to say the least. Teruteru was peeking his head out of the kitchen window, sighing softly “ Now I know that he can get on your nerves a whole lot Hajime, but I’d appreciate if you, as a regular here, would ever so kindly not make my waiter go into a tizzy!” He spoke, not sounding angry per say, just slightly concerned. 

Shuichi had looked at Kokichi before looking back at Hajime with a soft smile on his face “ Th... That’s right...! Sure, it might have been a little embarrassing...but it didn’t really scare me...like what happened when you had gone for Kokichi’s neck...” He... wasn’t exactly sure why he was defending the purple haired boy. But the look of genuine panic he could see and feel coming off of him just... made his chest squeeze softly. “ I-It’s okay, really...!” 

The older detective rubbed the back of his neck, now was his turn for embarrassment, mainly due to the fact he was part of the police, thus making him more responsibly. He seemed to some of his anger get the better of him. " Shit s-sorry. I uhh... Uhm... We-We'll just be going." He said in a timid manner as he paid his old high-school friend. 

Kokichi went back to mildly humming, admiring his fingernails to play it off like he was. " Hmm, yeah, it's all fine Teruteru. Hajime knows when to stop unlike his boss." He began to roll away, putting his arms behind his head, " Sorry for being nosey Mister Detective, I don't normally worry. Worrying over people just gets you hurt~." He strolled off into the kitchen leaving that cryptic and somewhat depressing note on the three of them. As the two detectives left, the family from yesterday came in again, the children giving Kokichi a deck of cards. This made him smile brightly and began to play with them for the kids, entertaining them again. The little girl was so happy that she had given the waiter a small hug. Again, Shuichi caught that small sliver of stillness before he patted the girl. With the rare glimpse the two huddled back into the patrol car, Hajime sighing, upset with himself. 

Shuichi had walked out with the superior detective, the cryptic message that Kokichi had left him with before he skated away reverberating through his mind. ‘Worrying over people just gets you hurt’? What was that even supposed to mean. As he was walking out, Shuichi had seen the stillness that the purple haired boy had he had been hugged by the little girl. Maybe Hajime was actually right, maybe he didn’t like to be touched... But, nonetheless, he went back into the warmth of the patrol car with his partner and got away from the cold air of the outside, taking his body and his all over the place thoughts with him. " Best we get to the precinct to inform we got the statue back." Hajime said, buckling up. 

At the department, the two were greeted by the robot and white cleaned officer. Ishimaru with a salute and formal hello of a yell. Hajime winced a bit, still not use to the loud volume his friend kept even with knowing him for years. However, there was the slightest creak with the peppy officer's normal smile, " Heya Taka-what's with the sudden look?" Ishimaru's normal proud smile was disturbed into that of worry, nervously sweating in place. " Oh god... Haiji's in and wants to ask us things, huh?" The polite police officer nodded lightly, gulping a bit. " Oh boy..." 

Shuichi was surprised to hear that Haiji had wanted to see them, confused on what terms he would be requesting them. Did he find out that Shuichi was at the museum? Or did he suspect Shuichi of something because he happened to talk with the leader of D.I.C.E...? 

Kiibo nodded, confirming Hajime’s statement with Taka. “ Yes, he didn’t state what he had wanted to talk about... but almost whenever he asks someone to talk with him it’s not very pleasant...” Shuichi gulped slightly, an anxiety welling in his chest. He didn’t like talking to authoritative figures in general, but the stories he had heard about his boss made his expectations much more worse. 

The brunette looked over to Shuichi who was getting anxious already, just as he was himself, " Oh don't worry he won't be upset with you." Hajime smiled nervously, " He's got no reason for it. However, I'm responsible for you, so if things turn sour, I'll be yelled at..." Hajime turned his upper torso while still in place, then popped his neck to get a crick out of it. " Ohhhhkay... Okay, I'm ready. Wish us luck guys" He said, managing to mentally prep himself and going into the back to a glass like office with blinds sealing the inside, with the Chief plaque on the door. Ishimaru stepped out of the view near the door not wanting to be seen by his boss, pulling poor Kiibo along with him so neither of them were caught in Haiji's sights. Shuichi nodded at Hajime’s reassurance before the started to make their way to the office. It eased his anxieties slightly... but he also didn’t want Hajime to get in trouble either...He tried to push in anxieties to the back of his mind before following him to Haiji’s office. When Kiibo was pulled to the side, he had almost tripped on his own foot, quietly scolding the other detective who had pulled him. Ishimaru shushed the robot, placing a hand over his mouth and a 'shh' signal, not wanting either to be in trouble. 

Inside the office sat Haiji behind a large desk, he looked like a much older man with similar locks of hair like Korekiyo. The man had his arm in a sling and completely wrapped up in bandages while a heavy coat drifted over his one good shoulder and arm. " Hello there Saihara, Hinata." He greeted them as Hajime sat down at one of the two seats in front of the broad desk. " Sorry I wasn't here to fully welcome you to the precinct. How's been the town? People? Hajime...?" His eyes casted a glance to the older detective, as if readying himself if he should get mad with him, all under a single yes or no from Shuichi. 

Shuichi had taken social queues from Hajime, sitting down on the other empty chair that was placed in front of the large and intimidating desk. When Haiji has asked him the question about how he was adjusting to his surroundings and definitely saw the glance he had given to Hajime. “ W...Well...” He spoke, timidly “I’ve gotten used to it... Hajime actually was a really big help...! He told me almost all there is to know about the town and it’s inhabitants, just really helping me get everything down and helping me fill my tool box when it comes to the town and it’s people.” He smiled softly “ I-If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be as well adjusted to the town as I am now after just one day...” 

Hajime slightly shivered for a quick moment but did it so fast that it was barley realized by the other two. Haiji took out a packet of cigarettes and lit one up, puffing it and blowing out some smoke. He then got out of his chair and opened a window behind him to let the smoke out. Above seemed to be a unique looking fire alarm... He must smoke often. His attention went back to the two," Hrm. That's good to hear. Thought you'd have some problems. Got a text from Hajime that you got hold of the statue, is that true?" The older detective only nodded, pulling the bag over to him. The chief leaned forward, inspecting it before smirking, " Very nice job Saihara... I don't care how the fuck you got it back, just that you did get it..." The small smile peered away quickly, " Hinata, have you given Saihara a taser yet?" 

" Er-N-No. I er-f-forgot..." 

" Well... We don't supply guns due to being 'too violent'- or well after an incident involving a fucker dressed as The Easter Bunny. So, go get him one Hinata... Now." Hajime nodded and quickly ran out leaving the younger one behind to deal with their boss. " Aherm, so Saihara. Have you been able to notice anyone in D.I.C.E in particular? Realizing one's features could make out for describing and searching people. I know it's your second day, but I have people tell me things. So, don't worry about me knowing you've met them." 

Shuichi had felt sort of prideful when the boss himself had praised Shuichi on getting the statue back... but was questionable when he didn’t care how he had even got it back. He had felt less secure when Hajime had gone out of the room to get Shuichi a standard issued taser. Looking back to the boss with a chill in his spine, he listened to the question. Was this... a trap? He knew that Hajime had gotten in trouble before for not providing evidence on people he had found when blaming a suspect.... He thought for a moment, stuttering out “Um... w-well...” he spoke “I’ve noticed the leader has a small and skinny frame... usually has a voice modifier on but it can change pitches quite easily, as I’ve seen.... the leader also has a personality... kind of like a coin. They ca-can be very playful at one moment, like a child, then very serious at another moment...” 

Haiji nodded, jotting all of the features down onto a notepad on his desk and having a disdain look on his face, " Hrmf... Sounds like that little bastard from the diner. But we checked his place clean, only finding some games, magazines, and a diary full of childish pictures. Found that fucking creepy ass bear, monochrome, but..." He sighed, pushing a hand into his hair's mats, " See, he had half of this teddy bear. The little shit even came to me one day when it went missing. I didn't look into it. Turns out D.I.C.E. had taken it, sewed it with a weird black half with a shining red eye to make it whole. Looked into who bought the materials, but not one had a record on anyone buying the supplies needed to finish the thing. I was even there when they gave it to him. Chased them down but couldn't catch them. " He huffed out some smoke before crushing the lit butt into a tray on his smooth desk. " Aside from that, when looking into his place along with his friends... Probably one of the worst investigations I've ever had." He held back what would have been a snarl and clenched his teeth tightly remembering the investigation on the apartment. 

Shuichi had nodded slightly, thinking about all of the information he was given. So ,his hunch about Kokichi wasn’t really off at all...He zoned out for a second, thinking before he looked up to Haiji confidently. “ Well, we don’t know for sure if you, being there when it was given to him confirms anything. Hypothetically, he could have told his members to give it to him and we wouldn’t know any better because they’re all masked. And-And since there was no record of buying the materials to make the half and half bear, Kokichi himself could have sewed it... so it doesn’t completely take him off the hook... and the investigation on the apartment... if all of his ‘friends’ were living there, wouldn’t that just be more convenient...? If all of his friends were members of D.I.C.E as well...?” 

Haiji nearly growled under his breath, " That's what I suspect, but I can't take anyone in without evidence. Yeah, he bugs the shit out of me, and I don't give a damn about his so-called friends, but I've got some lines unlike Hinata." The older man sat down back into his rugged chair and rubbed his temples angrily, " I'd more than be 'glad' to check the fucker's home again." It was at this point the shy detective could see a sharpened smirk under the wrath of his new boss's eyes. He really didn't like the pesky waiter... Or more than likely, loathed entirely. The man picked up a small pencil that was so worn down and used that it was barely a pencil at this point, " I can interrogate him. Done it twenty times already. If you think it's true, you just say the word and I'll have him under custody just like that." With that being said he snapped the pitiful pencil in half. 

Shuichi had gotten a very bad feeling when his boss had asked him about his suspicions of Kokichi... it seems that he really didn’t like the purple haired waiter. He got more chills from his demeanor, even jumping slightly when Haiji had snapped the worn-down pencil in half right in front of his eyes. He shook his head “ O-Oh no, I don’t think that’ll be necessary !” He spoke nervously before clearing his throat and regaining his composure “ Well-Well, you see, I’d like to get more solid evidence this time....” He thought for a couple of moments about ways to maybe win Haiji over, or at least be on his good side. The only way he thought possible was to diss Kokichi.... “ So, this time, when we bring him in, we can keep him in here.” 

The chief soon let his sudden surge of anger simmer down as Shuichi spoke, " Hrmf, right, right... Sorry about that but uh... Talking about him just make my blood boil you know? I just dislike-okay not really. Dislike would be a kind way of putting those feelings I have." He glanced up to Shuichi before moving back to lean in his cushioned chair, " See, I went there myself after someone described a member, and I did have a warrant, though I may have been a little too hasty with my judgement and actions. Let's just say he got a black eye and one of his buddies tackled me and nearly dislocated several bones... All the neighbors became upset and it just didn't go well. I may have been a little too rash." He scratched the back of his neck, only slightly regretting what he had done." If you suspect him and want evidence, you'd need to get close to him. It'll be pure hell. But if you do mess up, well... I'm getting tired of getting angry at myself for a fruitless mission going nowhere. Just warning you now, don't let my anger go your way." 

Shuichi had listened to the story that Haiji had told him about Kokichi’s friends dislocating several bones all because Haiji had given him a black eye... He knew the purple haired boy didn’t like to be touched in the first place, so he wondered how being attacked felt... He felt a little guilty... even if the small boy was known for getting on people’s nerves quickly. He then looked up at Haiji, guaranteeing himself that he wouldn’t get angry to the point of psychically assaulting Kokichi or anyone for the matter.... He then nodded slightly “ I think I can make friends with him, sir.” He boldly claimed, “ You can... count on me?” 

The elder shook his head a bit, letting his hair follow along, " If you want, then go ahead. It'll be a difficult task that's for sure. Especially if he's already seen you with any weak points exposed. Crafty little shit-Anyways, if you do somehow gain trust-no wait, he has none. If you somehow get into a friend zone, be careful. He's a little shit, but he's a charismatic little shit at that. Don't get pulled in." Thank the heavens Hajime ran back in to sit down at his chair that was beginning to lose heat from the surface. He panted slightly and handed Shuichi the taser before taking in a deep calculated breath. Haiji crossed-or at the very least tried crossing his arms, " Alright, you both are clear for now. Saihara, if Hinata is being a troublesome partner, just let me know. Hinata get that statue back to it's rightful place." 

" Yes'sir..." Hajime muttered under his breath, some from running, and some of it coming off as harsh before getting up and walking out the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it seems like Haiji is being a dick... he really is, found that the hard way in game...


	6. Somebody Help Me, She Wants Me Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakuza don't fuck around...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki gives no if's, and's, but's, or fuck's when dealing with Togami and Haiji. Don't mess with her man, she'll mess you up in Smash.

Once the door was shut, the brunette quivered a fist, enraged for some reason. " Only reason he's like that to me is because I had to restrain him on multiple occasions before he was Chief, he's held it as a grudge ever since..." 

Shuichi was definitely thankful that Hajime had come back, taking the taser and carefully pocketing it before following Hajime out of the room and waiting until the door shut before taking a deep breath of what seemed like fresh air. He looked over at Hajime, feeling bad about how bad the boss had treated him because he was just restraining him...he nodded softly, mumbling “ That... doesn’t seem fair. But, I do understand now what you mean about restraining him... he told me how he had given Kokichi from the cafe a black eye....” he sighed softly, fiddling with the fabric of his sleeves “ Anyway... I’m almost pretty sure I’m supposed to make friends with Kokichi now, actually...” 

" Yeah tell me about. But, i-it's fine. He's just a bit reckless... Er, most of the times. Thanks for not telling him I wasn't doing a good job by the way. That's a bit of how I lost my last partner before they-Wait... What?!." Hajime nearly jumped back, eyes wide, " W-What the hell does that mean?! You're suppose to make friends with him? Don't get near the gremlin. I just go there for Teruteru and his food-Oh my god, are you getting Stockholm syndrome on me?!" Hajime seemed to express not anger or confusion, but just fear and worry for his new partner. Like it was wrong of Shuichi to try and get to know the odd waiter. He wouldn't say no, but rather just why? 

Shuichi widened his eyes at the strong reaction Hajime seemed to have when he had told him about becoming friends with the waiter at the diner that the superior detective had regulated. He blinked a couple of seconds before waving his hands in front of his face “ O-Oh! No, no, it’s not what you think! It’s purely for detective work..!” He spoke “ B... Because I have a strong hunch that he’s a member, or that leader of D.I.C.E... and the only way to get solid evidence on that is to become close enough with him to get information on him...” he smiled softly “ But, I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine...! He... doesn’t really make me angry, more... flustered or embarrassed... but I can deal with it...! It’ll be a part of coming out of my shell...!” 

Hajime only put a hand to his own mouth, looking with such worried eyes as he slowly shook his head side to side, " That's a relatively big part of getting out of your shell. I wouldn't recommended it, but I'm not you, and I'm not telling to not do it. But if you really think so." After a deep sighed he thought and fell more on his logic, " So, you think he's with them just like Haiji. Hopefully, you won't turn out like him as well." Hajime lead him away from the office, again, rather tense at any thought of his boss, D.I.C.E., and Kokichi. Honestly, he felt like he was stressing himself out, but didn't quit being with his new partner. He was determined to stay with him, no matter what the other brought up and thought. " Anyways, again thanks for sticking up for me in there. How I lost my old partner." He sighed a bit, rolling his head around to get more cricks out and to just dismiss many things off that were causing him worry and doubt. He gave the other a ticket, " Here's to seeing Beauty and The Beast next Friday, if you don't already have a ticket or way to get in." 

Shuichi blinked slightly when he was handed the ticket, glancing over it for the play. He then nodded and looked up at him “ Thanks,” He replied softly, putting the ticket in his pocket. “ And it’s really no problem, me sticking up for you...I was just telling the truth, that’s all.” A genuine smile appeared on his lips as he looked at him “ Y-You really have been a big help since I got here....” 

Hajime gave him a small smile seeing as his new partner was actually thankful, " Heh, thanks. Normally it just seems like I mess up all over the place ever since uhh-But anyways, I think with you're attitude that you'll go far in this town." He patted his back softly, reassuring him before walking to a girl sleeping at a desk with three computer screens surrounding her. He gently nudged her, " Chiaki? Chiaki wake up." 

" Mrmm-huh wha?" The girl wore a sweater with a cat hoodie, covering her light pinkish or silver hued hair. She lifted her head, having a sticky note slapped onto her cheek as she rose her head. " Oh, hey, hey." 

" Chiaki, this is Shuichi, the new guy. Shuichi, Chiaki, our database... Kinda. Chiaki, I told you about the electronic bomb possibility, did you gain the reservation yet?" 

The sleepy girl rubbed her eyes, waving to the navy haired boy before going to the keyboards and typing, " Oh yeah, yeah. One reservation to speak with Togami enterprises is rigggght here." She pushed a button, letting a printer slide a paper out. " If security isn't pleased with it, just tell them it was short noticed, show your badges, drag Naegi with you, or tell them to come here and fight me, 1 v 1 on Smash..." She yawned out passing it to them. 

Meeting Chiaki for the first time, Shuichi wasn’t all that surprised. Meeting new people with interesting personalities in this town wasn’t that unusual anymore. Though, he did find some slight amusement when she had proposed that Togami Enterprises could 1 v. 1 her on a video game over a simple badge dispute. Shuichi had taken it from the sleepy girl, looking over the badge. He then looked at her, trying to formally introduce himself “ I... It’s nice to meet you, Chiaki....!” 

The small girl gave a warm smile and shook his hand, " It's nice to meet you too. Try to keep Hajime out of trouble." She smirked, getting a sudden flustered look from the other. 

" H-Hey what's that supposed to mean?!" Hajime gave a glare but only lightly as she seemingly went back to sleep. 

As if God were to challenge Shuichi, the raggedy chief walked over right as Chiaki had gone back to sleep, " Nanami, I need you to print out those reports on-Oh for the love of... NANAMI!" The girl continued to sleep despite the sudden shout and pound of a fist to the table. 

Hajime cracked a grin and leaned over, gently nudging her, " Pst, Chiaki." 

She opened her eyes and looked up to a fuming Haiji and smiled, " Hey Chief." 

" Nanami, the repo-" She gracefully slid her hand to a stack of papers and gave him a few that were clipped together, then proceeded to lay her head back down again, leaving Haiji in a stunned silence before taking his leave, muttering angrily. Shuichi couldn't help but slightly smile, seeing as Chiaki didn't care that the chief was near or not, she just simply did as she pleased. Truth be said, the scene was rather humorous, especially since she had made the seemingly intimidating chief look a little foolish. Once Haiji had left, Hajime held his grin, holding the reservation ticket before bursting out into a fit of laughter. 

Shuichi had tried to keep a straight face on when Haiji was in the room, fining it pretty amusing that Chiaki had acted no different when she was around the chief or not. He slightly admired her for that, being able to do whatever she wanted without seeming to care about what people had thought about her.... and also to be really good at making people looking kind of foolish. Shuichi had looked over and had seen Hajime laugh, the positivity contagious. He made sure that Haiji was gone before he started to chuckle softly, his eyes shut and his face turning into a genuinely amused and happy smile. Hajime was the first to collapse under the humor of it all, " Ahahaha! O-Oh my god, that was amazing!" He chuckled a bit, bringing a finger to his eye, visibly wiping away a small tear from his happiness. 

The girl hummed, " Glad to be of assistance. I may have overheard you guys getting called in. So, I can only guess the reason being..." She trailed off for the older detective to confirm her suspicions. 

" Haiji." 

" Haiji..." She nodded, repeating that that was indeed the case. She yawned as she put an elbow onto her table, resting her head in the crook of her palm, eyeing the new worker, " Yeah he's a stickler from what you've seen. He's been butt sore since six years ago-" 

Hajime quickly intruded her sentence, " Chiaki, no. Please don't bring that up again-" 

The small petite girl puffed her cheeks angrily like some type of puffer-fish before poking Hajime's chest, " I'm serious! I think it had to do with the HP-SL incident! He didn't solve it correctly like his other major cases and has been a dick since!" She caught herself on her own words, " Or well... More of a dick." Her eyes glanced to Shuichi who was rightfully confused and baffled at what they were going on about exactly. " O-Oh sorry." 

Shuichi was, admittedly, confused about the event that the both of them were referencing. Which did make him very interested in what happened six years ago, but decided not to pry into it any more than he had to because it appeared that Hajime didn’t really want to talk to it. He then looked over at Chiaki, holding his hands up slightly and shaking them a little along with his head side to side “ O-Oh, no! It’s totally fine, no need to apologize!” He spoke, a slightly nervous smile on his face as he talked to the light-haired girl. 

Now that the danger of Haiji was away and licking his wounds from being ashamed by a tiny girl, she simply smiled, " Aww, no need to be shy. You work here now, so I'll tell you." Hajime muttered something about, 'here we go again' under his breath, receiving a sudden paper ball being thrown at his head. " Quiet you. Anyways, Haiji had lots of big cases. But his crowning achievement that also helped him get into the seat of power now was the HP-SL incident. Six years ago, before me or anyone I really know worked here, a really wealthy adventurer who had some type of factory died by a hydraulic press. Nasty way to go... She was a well-known charitable type and her fiancé made a mint when she died. You'd suspect foul play, but little to no evidence." 

Hajime sighed, " Haiji suspected the fiancé and her kid, but again, not much was found. Only witness was her kid who saw all of it go down but was too broken about it all. Haiji had to rule it out as a suicide and the kid became so violent and torn up that he was shipped off to the loony bin." 

Chiaki butted in again after Hajime had to her, " That's why it's called the HP-SL incident. It stands for Hydraulic-Press; Suicidal Local. Some of the old cops who worked on it speculate it was the fiancé, some speculate it was the kid, and some speculate that it was the kid assisting in suicide. I've looked for reports on it, but most things I found had been erased for quite a while. I think our old chief had help covering it up, but I'm not so sure since he was a nice guy... Either that or someone hacked into the mainframe and got rid of it, along with ridding of evidence from the library and what not. All I know is that it's a very sore subject with Haiji, but I doubt it was him who erased the evidence. he just doesn't want to be wrong I think." 

Shuichi had listened to the story about the HP-SL incident, theories about the whole incident swirling around in his mind with every new word Chiaki had spoken to him about it. Multiple possibilities swirled around in his mind, until one really stuck with him. The case was a very sore subject for him, but he had to talk about at least some aspect of it in some way. What were the things he knew for a fact that Haiji was known to talk about either in disdain or avoidance... Shuichi widened his eyes softly, before quickly catching himself and returning his expression to a normal one. “ Interesting...” he then looked over towards her. “I wonder who actually erased the reports on it....but anyway, before I forget” he spoke, the person now on his mind form his speculations about the event “ We... we have records on Kokichi Ouma, right? I... I’d like to see everything we have on file about him....” He then looked off to the side shyly, and slightly embarrassed “ O-Only if I could of course!” 

The light-haired girl blinked a bit, " Oooooh new guys a player~." She teased him, chuckling lightly before shaking her head, " I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Yeah, we've got records on him. It's mostly going to be about the normal things. Date of birth, fingerprint, address... And some... Interrogation documents..." She said in a low voice, not wanting to bring those up. With Haiji's attitude to the waiter, that meant those documents didn't go well. " And alllll of the accusations made on him. We sadly stopped writing in the lies he constantly tells due to how many he's told us. Past is a mishmash of lies so we don't really know his background history. He just kind of appeared one day. All we've got is that this town is his hometown and moved away a while ago, then moved back in recently. We've got some school records and a small bit of his orphanage history." 

Shuichi had become really embarrassed, blushing brightly what Chiaki had called him a player. He was relieved when she had told him that it was a joke, feeling himself relax slightly from the accusation. He then listened to her explanation of what was in the files, slightly disappointed that the files may not be to his liking because of Kokichi’s lying and Haiji’s bitterness towards the waiter. He then smiled softly, nodding “ Okay. I’d like to see his files whenever I get the chance to... I’m kind of interested in what the interrogation documents exactly have on them... I’d also l-like to try and see if I can figure out where he went when he moved away and why h-he moved away...” He spoke, thinking out loud to himself about the subject. 

She nodded as she gave Hajime the key to get by Togami's security, " I'll be here later tonight. I'm a night owl and Kiibo keeps me company. Specially since he doesn't sleep. So just swing by whenever. And if you need anything else, just let me know." She smiled, passing her a small card with her number on it. She gave Hajime a look, who only nodded, knowing she did this to any on the force if they needed help at the office. " Oh and if you see my cousin Fujisaki, tell him hi." She smiled gently, slowly lulling back to sleep again. Shuichi had blinked slightly when Chiaki had mentioned Chihiro was her cousin, caught off guard a little bit before regaining his ground. He then followed Hajime out of the room, waving to the light-haired girl anyway out of kindness even though she was sleeping. 

As the two exited, Hajime got out his notepad, rereading over it, " Alright, first stop is the Museum, then the alley, Togami Corp., then to here to get your files and then lastly home, any questions?" 

Shuichi then looked to Hajime as he explained the plan for the day, nodding. “ Okay, that sounds good to me..!” He commented, a small smile on his face as he replied. 

The two ventured off in the patrol car, parking on the asphalt ground. The two entered, and to be thanked by the Gods above-or Atua in Angie's case, that Kaito wasn't near the entrance, so Shuichi wouldn't have to explain or avoid how he had gotten the statue back... Korekiyo was around, seemingly surprised and naturally dashed over, still in a formal way somehow. " Oh my! Is that? Could it be? The Caged Dog Village's Statue?!" He held a bandaged hand to his mask. 

Hajime nodded, " Yup, we're returning it back to where it belongs since the Village is well, dead." 

Korekiyo took the bag and called Angie over to go put it back. " Oh thank you so much, now me and my Sister can rest easy knowing it is safe. Thank you Hinata and Saihara. This means so very much." 

Shuichi smiled when Korekiyo seemed very happy over the dog statue being returned back into his care, after all seeing people happy after either their justice was served or after a part of the case was resolved was almost his favorite part of the job. " W… Well we're happy that we were able to get it back to you...!" 

Angie had come over to where they were when she was called, almost like an obedient dog. She took the statue carefully to go put it back with a bright and happy smile on her face. "Of course, it returned to us! It was all Atua's divine will that it be returned into rightful hands! Praise Atua!" She rambled on slightly before turning away with glee and starting to return the dog statue back to the case it was stolen from. 

The tall feminine man nodded and bowed, " Yes, this will bring great joy to my sister as well, along with a flooding tide of relief. I wish that there was more I could do, but alas I am above those of justice who squander themselves on petty bribes and such. I hope you both have a good day-" The man started to peeter off when his eyes caught sight of a group of children starting to cause their teacher trouble. " Ah, duty calls. Again, I am grateful, goodbye detectives." He said with a small wave of his bandaged hand as Hajme led himself and partner back to the coziness of the warmed-up car. 

" Okay next up is the alleyway." 

Shuichi had smiled and waved at the taller man before he had left, the followed the superior detective out to the warm and heated car to escape the coldness of the outside. Out of the whole trip there he was kind of glad he didn't accidentally bump into Kaito, so he didn't have to explain how he had gotten the statue back. That would be a story for later.... He turned to look at Hajime when he stated where they would be going next, nodding softly in affirmation. " Okay, sounds good." He spoke calmly, looking out of the window at the cold and white weather outside of the vehicle. 

The car soon slowed down to a nice-looking street near what could only be described as a ‘more traditional’ motif. The streets had wonderous curved roofs, décor of Asian attire, and paper lanterns strewn about above them. Hajime stepped out, showing Shuichi a gated area with a rather large building. " That's the local Yakuza estate. I suggest not stepping the lines over there." He stared at the place, which was absolutely beautiful and interesting to him. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was around Yakuza territory, he'd most likely take a stroll around here. " Okay, now the alley way of this street goes down that way..." Hajime pointed over and then behind himself, " And that way... The patroller today is the calmer of the two guards, so if you see a girl with silver hair, glasses, and nicely braided hair, just show her your badge. If it's somehow the other girl who has straight hair, no emotion, and a bit pale with black hair, contact me. Sorry but it will save us time if we each go in another direction." He said, passing over a walkie-talkie. 

Shuichi had admired the yakuza building for a few seconds, but then managed to pull himself back to the task at hand. He listened to Hajime's explanation of what to do around certain people he might encounter and committed it to memory. He then took the walkie-talkie with a small smile on his face, nodding at Hajime. " No, no, it's totally fine. I... I honestly think it would be better for us to go different directions as well...!" He responded, gripping onto the walkie-talkie before putting it in the pocket of his coat. He then looked over at Hajime again " So, we're here to see if there's any evidence about the meet-up that Miu had? Or if we can find any suspects that might have commissioned Miu to make the device, correct?" He asked, just clarifying himself on their job here so he wouldn't mess up. Hopefully. 

The fellow detective nodded, " Yup, if we don't find anything, meet back here. If we're lucky, then they left a calling card or something behind. It could have been anyone, so just keep that in mind. You can take the East, I'll take West. I'll let you know if I find something and let me know if you find anything as well." He said, taking his time to explain before walking away, holding up the walkie-talkie and flipping it on. 

Shuichi had turned the walkie-talkie on, holding it firmly in his hands as he started to walk the alleyway of the location that was given to them by Miu. Well, the east part of it anyway. He pulled his scarf slightly up his face to brace himself from the cold, feeling the chilly hair hitting his cheeks and making his exhales seem like smoke. 

Back at the diner where the purple haired boy strolled by the mostly empty tables, seeing as it was a slow day, decided to stop his skates near the back and pull out his phone to call up one of his many roommates, " Hey Miu, you wonderful bitch, how are things coming along?" 

Miu had picked up the phone, holding it with her shoulder and pressing it against the side of her face as she was using both of her hands to work on one of her new inventions. She snickered slightly over the phone, replying with " Well, I've been having trouble getting things over the edge lately, just kidding, why would I have troubles with that of all things?" She paused slightly tightening a screw with a very small screwdriver " Buuuuuuut, if you're talking about the things you requested, it 

“ It's going as smooth as fuckin' butter." She replied. 

Kokichi knew how to deal with Miu at this point, give her a little bit a praise, a little tease, and to keep the phone a mildly good distance away from his ear, least he gain a migraine today. " Yeah, now that's what I like to hear~! Wonderful to know girlfriend." He grinned, chuckling to himself, excited for what was about to come-no, not like that-this always happen when he talked with her, he swore! It'd bring the worst in him. " Oh! Hey, hey, hey! Where did you send the loser brigade too? Hajime looked rather tense today. Like-erm.... super stiff to your mind set." 

Miu stuck her tongue out while she was listening to Kokichi, looking very intensely at her creation. " Oh, loser brigade?" She spoke. "Well, I'd imagine Haji-gay would be as hard as a rock this morning, cause I sent him to that one alley in ‘China Town’ that the stupid Yakuza controls. Probably made him shit his pants, not that I'm into that sort of thing. Fuckin' gross..." She spoke into the phone. " Why are you so interested in them, huh? Does our perverted leader have a hard on for one of the dork squad members or something?" 

Kokichi snickered to himself, " Hey, hey, I don't kiss and tell-....." His grin quickly ceased without a trace before suddenly coming to an abrupt stop, the words finally processing through his mind and ears. " W-Wait... Today is Wednesday... Me and Gonta found out the hard way that Mukuro is now working on patrol, switching days with Peko-" As he said it to himself, he had nearly dropped his phone and went into silence. " Uh-oh... OH MY GOD! MIU YOU STUPID DIRTY SLUT-DID YOU FORGET THEY CHANGED DAYS?!" The violet haired boy stopped himself from yelling more, distracting several people with children. He was glad he was a bit out of ear but still. " Oh my god-Shit. I-I'll call you later you dirty cum-dumpster of a bitch." Miu choked on air, barely hearing the other hang up. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Miu paused for a second when Kokichi had gotten all serious and worked up about Miu directing them into them into the yakuza-owned alley. She choked and spit slightly when Kokichi had called her all of those dirty names before he had hung up, “ W-Wait, … Oh fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Kokichi-“ She blinked blankly as soon as he hung up, making her scrunch up her shoulders and going back to work, pretending she didn’t royally fuck up leaving her speechless for a couple of minutes. When she regained her composure, she had silently mumbled to herself " Yeah, definitely got a special place in his dick for one of em'...". 

The trickster swiftly rolled by the counter in the back, ringing a bell, " Teruteru, just got a call that Gonta fell off the stairs again chasing a bug, I'll be back!" 

Teruteru peeked out of the kitchen when Kokichi had run the bell, listening to his story about Gonta falling off the stairs " Okay, do what you need to! And tell him to be more careful for the umpteenth-million time!" Kokichi rushed out from the diner, rolling his way down the pavement of the sidewalks, and avoiding any type of collision he and the others had practiced for heists. 

While that was happening, a bit away was Shuichi looking down some of the various aisle like alleyways that were nooked in between some buildings. Nothing had really gotten much attention, and at most it seemed like no one had been down them for a long while, untouched by man. There were some shoes or boots clacking against the stone nearby, however. The footsteps accustomed to get louder, sounding like they were following him, though when he turned his head, there was nothing there. The area was remotely quiet for the most part... Well until he passed by an alleyway with an opening down it leading to another road. At the end of the alley way to his side was a young woman with short ebony hair and rather pale skin. She didn't look dangerous or to be wielding anything harmful... 

Shuichi kept looking through they alleyway trying to find something, anything, that would indicate that someone had been there. He walked around for a bit, until he had passed by an alleyway with an opening at the end of it leading to another open road. He squinted softly, seeing the figure standing there. He looked at her features and identified her as the person that...that Hajime had warned him about. Black hair, pale skin.... but she didn't look dangerous at all. He assumed that he could handle it and that there was no need really to call Hajime about it. This couldn't be the girl he was talking about, right? She looked harmless. He took the badge he was given out of his pocket, putting another hand on the pocket with his walkie-talkie and his taser in it. He extended the badge out towards the woman standing at the end of the alley " I... I'm here with the police department, doing some investigation regarding a case...!" 

The woman walked off after staring his way for a few moments, vanishing from his sight and down another alleyway... Only to soon hear someone diligently walking on... the roof above him? A small bit of the brickwork above near him fell onto the stone by his feet. Once Shuichi looked up, his gold hued eyes were met with those of a grey purple, glaring down at him. The woman had hopped from the small roof since the building wasn't terribly tall and landed before him. She put a hand to her side, her eyes locking onto his. He hadn't caught it at first but something shined off from her hand. The girl bored holes into Shuichi, " Who the hell are you and why should I care about some case? We take care of our own problems... No detectives allowed... And seeing as your new, I think it's best if I tell you why none of you are allowed to intrude here-ACK!" Widening his eyes when he had saw the girl from the alley suddenly appearing on top of the small building, then suddenly jumping in front of him, Shuichi took a few hesitant steps back. He had also noticed the faint glimmer from her hand, his heart beating faster in his chest. Maybe he should have called Hajime...but, before he could think anymore his vision was suddenly clouded with a good smelling and colorful cloud of smoke. She and Shuichi were suddenly blinded by some type of smoke cloud forming from some small marbles. The smoke gathered rather quickly, blinding the both of them, though it was more of a cotton candy color than normal grey... Along with a nice smell, making sure the lungs weren't as damaged when inhaling it. While the malicious woman coughed, something took Shuichi by the wrist and dragged him out. 

He coughed slightly, trying to wave the smoke out of his face. His thoughts quickly went to what might of caused this, and as the pieces in his mind were clicking he was pulled away by a sudden yank of his wrist and dragging him out of the smoke, where he almost stumbled on himself. Before the young detective knew it, he was dragged off and into a small storage building, being able to make out outlines from his eyes that were still irritated from the smoke bomb. He was pushed down onto something soft yet hard, crunching under him, most likely a bag of dog food or cat food... Something of the two. His ears also detected a door being shut and some muffled panting. While his eyes slowly adjusted from the sudden smoke, his walkie-talkie went off, " S-Shuichi? Shuichi? H-Hey! D-Do you read me?!" Hajime yelled out over the walkie-talkie, frightened for his partner. 

Shuichi had blinked his eyes slightly, trying to adjust himself from getting out of the smoke. He sat up slightly from being pushed down onto what seemed like a bag of some form of animal food...? He heard a door being shut in the distance and the muffled panting that had followed it. He slowly stood up from the bag of food, trying to walk towards the sounds of the muffled panting. He had heard his walkie-talkie go off, however he wanted to know the identity of the person who had saved him. This could be crucial. He kept walking towards the door as his eyes adjusted a little, but still slightly irritated. He opened the door to try and get a hint of what was on the other side. 

The door was soon closed again, a familiar voice came to him, " S-Stop that!" The voice-or rather overlapping voices yelled quietly to him, " Do you want to get sliced into ribbons?! Keep this closed or she'll find us! I may be an evil overlord, but damn if I see someone get killed with little miss, ‘my time of the month on permanent’!" Shuichi had jumped when the door had closed again, listening to the overlapping voices that had talked to him. His eyes were finally focusing, noticing he was in the prescience of the someone from D.I.C.E. again who had just saved him. His vision then came back into focus just well enough to be able to recognize the leader of D. I. C. E standing right in front of him and scolding. They snagged the walkie-talkie, turning it off and quickly pushed the detective back onto the bags, soon hopping on him, straddling him. He gasped slightly when he was pushed back onto the crinkling bags of animal food, widening his eyes when he felt the leader straddle him and press a hand to his mouth. He was frozen, slightly from fear and slightly from embarrassment. He barely even had the mental capacity at the moment to process that his walkie-talkie had been stolen. His face was completely red from how awfully close the leader was, way too close or his tastes. He stayed frozen and still under him, wide golden eyes surrounded by strawberry red blushing skin. Their gloved hand reeled away slowly but kept out an index finger, placing it over the confused detective's mouth. " Shshshhh!" They commanded. " Be quiet..." They whispered into the mic, distorting their voice further from the sudden pants they had. 

The masked stranger lightened their breaths, inhaling quietly and carefully, slowly removing their hand away from the detective. They looked over their shoulder, watching the newly shut door, tensely. They finally let out a small sigh of relief, getting off the other and moving away just in case Shuichi was fast to recover and grab them. The masked leader was still getting their breath back after moving far out of the way for Shuichi to even reach them. They looked over to him, watching like a nervously cornered animal, just waiting to get any last breaths to catch up through the sudden burst of adrenaline. They were very on edge as they rested, not wanting to deal with any tricks the detective might pull due to being near another and to be quiet so the girl wouldn't hunt them down. They shook a bit, readying themselves just in case. 

Shuichi had watched as the leader backed away from him, being able to notice how out of breath the were and how on edge they had seemed to be around him. He had remained seated on the bags of food, looking up towards him. He wasn't exactly surprised by how on edge the masked stranger seemed to be, but a part of him thought it was a little... he couldn,t quite describe it... but he knew he didn't like it. He took the taser out of his pocket openly, moving it slowly and placing it to the side so it was out of his reach to show he wasn't going to attack him or anything like that. He then whispered very softly " I'm not going to do anything... th-this time at least... you have my word as a new detective in this town...." he spoke nervously and quietly. " It's... a thanks for saving me..." The leader began to look more upset by body language when he pulled out the powerful yet strong device but slowly relaxed as he had set it aside. They didn't talk much this time like they had in the past encounters and only began to back away as Shuichi placed the taser down. Seems they had some bad experiences with tasers, having the shudder just a tad. The stranger moved silently to a window, peeking out the blinds and reeling back from it. They backed away, stepping on the heels of their feet, grabbing the door's knob and opening it part way before dropping a smoke bomb outside making someone outside cough out. They then dropped another where they were, clouding their movement from Shuichi. 

A moment later, Hajime nearly kicked the door in and walked out from the smoke, coughing, and waving the smoke away, " Friggen'-Hell-Shuichi?!" 

When the smoke bomb that the leader had used to cloak his movements from Shuichi went off, he moved the smoke that had traveled over to him away with his hand and was coughing lightly. The smoke wasn't as bad as where he was sitting though. He then heard the door being kicked open by someone, glancing over through the smoke to see it was his superior. Shuichi quickly stood up from the pile of animal food bags, shouting out towards him while starting to move closer to the big cloud of smoke " H-Hajime! I'm over here!" 

The older detective waved more smoke away, " Damned smoke. You okay?" He asked, walking over to help the other detective up. Behind him was another figure appearing from the smoke, covering their mouth until they walked out from the pink tinted cloud. 

They appeared to be a shorter male with a suit on, nearly shaved blonde hair and an eye-patch, " Find 'em?" 

" Yeah." 

The newcomer with a baby face sighed in relief and annoyance. " I'll be sure to talk to Mukuro, sorry about that. She tends to be... Difficult to maintain since she doesn't fuckin' listen to the rules." He said rather bluntly, adjusting his tie and walked over to the two. " Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, long-time friend of Hajime." 

Shuichi stood up fully with the help of Hajime, looking over at the other eye-patched figure that had come out of the smoke. " I-I'm okay," He mumbled softly before the small blonde-haired boy started to talk. Shuichi nodded his head slightly when he was introduced "Shuichi Saihara, it's nice to meet you..." He spoke, a slightly nervous smile on his face. The smile on his face dropped slightly when he turned to Hajime and told it to him as bluntly as possible " The leader of D. I. C. E. was here, they're the ones who caused all of this smoke..." 

The superior sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, " Jeez, this is the most anyone's interacted with them. But if they caused the smoke, then that means that they..." he trailed off while the baby-faced male shook Shuichi's hand and listened in. 

" Good to see you're okay, and yes Hajime, it means they saved his ass... Mukuro needs some fuckin’ discipline. I specifically told her not to go out of her fucking way to cause trouble on people passing by. Does she listen to the Boss? ‘Nooo’! I'm gonna' hafta' have a lengthy talk with her after the days done." He grunted, clenching his teeth in a fit of anger, " I've made deals of not hassling people around here or the police, as long as people and the police stay out of my business and the territory of the main building. But considering she broke that agreement, I hafta’ 'apologize'. I'm not good at that sorta' thing-" Hajime nearly opened his mouth to object but was handed two tickets. " Don't even say it Hajime, just take the damn tickets to the upcoming play... It's not a bribe it's an apology gift. And hey, if ya’ got tickets already, maybe ya’ can invite someone." 

Shuichi had listened to the small blonde’s reassurance that whoever had tried to attack him, Mukuro, was going to be dealt with... He was physically present in the conversation between them, trying to listen to them but his thoughts kept drifting towards the colored smoke and the leader of D.I.C.E... why would they go out of their way to save him? For that matter, how did they even know that he needed saving? It must have been a quick moment thing because the leader had been panting like he had been running for a bit... who could have informed them about it...? He had a few people on the mind, like Miu or Saionji, but there wasn’t a lot of solid evidence there to really claim that they were the ones who leaked information. For all he knew, the leader might have just seen him go into the alley.... 

Mukuro walked over, and took it all in stride, bowing to her boss, apologizing before walking to Shuichi, " ... I am… sorry." She then walked away, leaving with the clacking of her boots on the stones. Fuyuhiko turned around, straightening his tie out. 

Fuyuhiko sighed lightly, " Alright, we're all good here. I'll let you know if we find anything. Thanks for the heads-up Hajime. Least I can do to help an old friend. It was nice to meet you by the way." He said his goodbyes and left. 

Hajime gave his farewells before helping Shuichi to the car, " We should head to Togami Corp. Don't need you getting frostbite, and erm well... It's hard to say, but we CAN trust Fuyuhiko, even if he's in the Yakuza. Besides, I think that's enough adventure for you today." He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing out a cloud of warm breath meeting the crisp air, leading the other to his car and turning it on. Hajime started to drive down the white fleeced roads, still mildly worried and upset with himself. " I can't believe that D.I.C.E-out of all people-The damn leader helped you... I'm regretfully thankful."

Shuichi had looked at Mukuro, looking at her as she turned and walked away. He then said his goodbyes to Fuyuhiko before he had left as well. Then he nodded to Hajime, following him into the car to escape the cold nipping at his nose and at the tip of his ears. He quickly got into the car, his whole body seeming to relax in relief from how warm he was now. He watched Hajime drive down the snow-covered roads, listening to his chatter. “ Y-Yeah...” he replied softly “ I’m just wondering how the leader even knew that I was there... when they saved me, it sounded like they were out of breath. So that implied they were in a rush to save me... but then that even raises the question why would they save me...?” He thought for a couple more moments before mumbling, “ Ma-Maybe it’s because they see worth in me...?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mukuro is a bit... Action trigger happy, but hey, least she's not bat-shit insane in this.


	7. Rhythm By The Great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh joy... Togami shows up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that Shuichi now has two tickets for the upcoming play~!  
> ALSO LARGE NOTE Nothing major but, last chapter had slightly more dialog, I have added it in. It's just a paragraph but still.

At the apartments, Kokichi fidgeted against the spray that caused a critical stinging sensation on a spot of his knee. He suppressed the need to cry out and cringed, baring with it. Leon leaned over to watch Rantaro swab a cut on the knee. " Man, good thing no one chased you and that you didn't tear your pants to leave evidence behind." 

" Ffffffuck off." The purple haired boy shuddered and scowled to his criminal partner. 

Rantaro had put the cap on the bottle of spray that he had just used on the cut that was on Kokichi’s knee. He then used a clean and wet towel to wipe the excess disinfectant off as gently as he could so he wouldn’t cause Kokichi more pain than he already was. He sighed, grabbing out a bandage from the first aid kit he kept handy, “ You really do have to be more careful, Kokichi. You could have left plenty of evidence behind for them to bring you in again... torn up clothes, blood... those things are small but they could be a big problem.” 

Leon rested his arms on his waist, eyeing the small leader, " What the dicks happen?" 

Kokichi crossed his arms and pouted like a small child-making it hard to tell if he wasn't one at times. " Well, MIU! Fucking told the detectives to go near the streets of the museum, aka, where that crazy nut girl patrols, and forgot that Wednesday is when she patrols, 'cuz they switched days for whatever reason." He grumbled to himself in a bitter fit. 

" Just be glad she didn't slice you instead." 

" I'm not stupid Leon! I had some smoke bombs! A-And I didn't leave anything behind! I know how I need to be careful!" 

Rantaro had put the gauze pad on the cut on Kokichi’s knee, then taping up the edges of it. He then quickly patted it down to make sure it wouldn’t come off easily when Kokichi moved. He then started to put everything in his first aid box away, closing it up. A few seconds after the fact, Miu had stormed into the room and crossing her arms. “ Hey! I heard my name? What the fuck where you virgins saying about me?!” 

The purple haired male gave a nasty hardened glare, " You dirty slut! The detectives we're this fucking close to being skewered by miss I'm on my period all the damn time and need more of a damned dicking more than you!" 

Miu had crossed her arms when Kokichi had yelled at her, then turning her chin upwards and huffing out aid slightly when the small boy had soon apologized to her in his usual way. She mumbled out softly under her breath right after Leon had talked to Kokichi, “ Fuckin’ gremlin, making me worry n’ shit...” She then turned around and left the room to go back to working what she was working on previously. 

Leon merely sighed, shaking his head along with his fire like hair, " Next time try to write a reminder for Miu. For a 'gorgeous girl genius', she's forgetful at times. Like, we know you're capable at escaping and throwing a couple of good punches, but just be a little more careful, alright?" 

The purple haired boy shifted his gaze away and bit the tip of one of his thumbs, again acting like a brat instead of an actual young adult, " Yeah, yeah, I know. I should have written her something-shit... Sorry Miu-you fucking slutty bitch... Look I'll be fine, okay? I-It's not like I haven't been able to handle myself before I met any of you when I got here." There was a slight darkness intertwining in his tone, but not to much to be heard, so it came off as whining more than anything. 

Leon crossed his arms, " We just worry dude." 

Kokichi sighed, " ... Thanks." 

Rantaro looked over at Kokichi, sighing softly as he said he would be able to handle himself. Sure, he had handled himself before any of them had gotten to him, but that wasn’t something to exactly be proud of... Rantaro stood up, glancing over at Kokichi “ It’s also okay to give us a call if you want some help, you know. Don’t have to do everything alone.” 

The pouting leader curled up, shifting his eyes away grumpily, mumbling mainly to himself," I've been able to do everything by myself for three years..." 

Leon stretched out his back. " We should go out today, it's been awhile for some of us." He slightly, or at least tried to smile a little. It only ended up with the corner of his lips quirking up a little, but it wasn't enough to even consider it a smile. " It'll be my treat, alright?" 

From nearby a girl with magenta and blue colored hair ran it in raggedy socks and bright eyes, Ibuki had heard with bat hearing, " Aw, hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" She grinned widely, hyping herself up to go out to eat instead of eating anything she would grab from the apartments or from the snack bar of the theater. 

" Eh, sounds good. You guys have fun with that." Kokichi said, getting up after examining the bandage on his scrapped knee. 

The red head yelled out, snatching the smaller boy by the scruff of his shirt's neck, reeling the smaller boy back, " Hey, hey, whoa, you come back here! You're coming with. Last time we left you, you didn't eat a damn thing and went off to go bug that Towa fucker." Kokichi scrambled around, nearly flailing, but more of just flapping his arms around uselessly. 

Rantaro sighed as Kokichi had implied that he wasn’t going to come with them on this little escapade, looking at him and backing up Leon. “ That’s right, so we shouldn’t leave you alone again. Who knows what kind of trouble you’ll get into...” He then grinned softly, looking down at him, “ Maybe if you come with us, I’ll buy you a case of Panta on the way home...” He implied, turning around with a smug grin on his face, knowing that the bribe might have a strong effect on him. He never knew, sometimes it worked but sometimes it really didn’t... 

The younger eyed Rantaro, " You wound me with knowing my weakness good sir... Ffffffine!" He finally let out a defeat on his behalf, knowing he couldn't avoid the upcoming feast with his friend-or rather family at this point. 

Leon smiled, patting Rantaro's shoulder for help aiding him, " Alright, I guess it's decided then, we're gonna’ go out. I'm gonna’ grab my wallet, you all do whatever it is you need to do before we go." Having that said, the cerulean eyed male left the room, his shoes dully thudding against the wooden flooring. Ibuki nodded and cheerfully skipped to another apartment, more than likely asking if anyone wanted anything on the way back, seeing as she would chip in for her partners, or asking if they wanted to join. This usually got the attention of Hagekure, who tended to get the munchies without actually smoking, oddly enough. They swore, the man literally only ate snacks as food. As Kokichi was let go, he walked out and up a ladder to the top of the apartment buildings and sat near the edge to watch the evening pull in. Why did he insist on helping the new detective so much? He sat there and pondered to himself. It seemed a bit too much just to prepare someone to rival against him. But if he could build him up, he may have a worthy toy.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuichi had rode with Hajime all the way towards the Togami Corp. building, glancing out the window and striking up small talk whenever his confidence had allowed him to. At other times he was lost in his thoughts and they had wandered towards thoughts of the leader of D.I.C.E and why he would really want to save him from the yakuza...When the superior detective had pulled into the parking lot of the building, he inspected the exterior to help himself snap out of his thoughts . The building was...certainly big. And really expensive looking. He checked he had everything in his pockets, before opening the door and letting the cold air hit his face. He stepped out of the car quickly, pulling his scarf up over his mouth. 

Hajime's foot shook with anticipation, or rather annoyance, bouncing his leg up and down as the two were seated in a waiting room. The brunette seemed to be more irritated than being near that weird Komaeda guy at the mall, which was interesting to witness. He rested his chin on the knuckles of his hands as the elbows set onto one knee. It had been about thirty minutes of pure waiting until a lady walked over letting them know they could see the building's owner. " Friggen' finally..." Shuichi, who had been sitting there patiently, would stand up and stretch his limbs out a little. In his supposed throne room-or rather CEO office, sat the 'esteemed' Byakuya Togami himself. Like usual, he kept his head held up high, his piecing blue eyes stared at the clock that was precisely placed in the middle of the wall. Impatiently, he tapped his finger against the wooden desk covered in velvet, wondering what took that secretary so damn long to get the two detectives to his main office. 

Hajime walked in casually, or as casual you could get in this type of building and sat down in a royal red fabric chair, right before the blonde behind glasses. He took in a deep breath, clasping his hands together and pointing them to the other male, " Byakuya... Makoto says hi, from the office, after you sent a card to the Chief, telling him that he should not stick his nose in your employs business. Now besides that, we're here to see if any of your workers has made some type of electronic device of sorts that can scramble cameras, alarms, and electronics." 

Shuichi had followed Hajime around the office, feeling out of place in the lush building. At least he didn’t come here alone, he bet he would feel even more awkward....he sat on one of the chairs that was seating in Byakuya’s office, finding himself sitting more upright and formally in the expensive-looking room. Or at least he tried to... Byakuya shifted his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking over the two and letting out an annoying and impatient sigh. “ I care not for whatever Makoto says. Now I’ll have to thank you for getting right to the point and not wasting my time, like usual, but I have no legal obligation to tell you any information about any of my employees, guilty or not.” He clasped his hands-on top of his desk, his piercing blue eyes directed towards Hajime. “ So, convince me why I should tell you this information then, before you start to waste my time.” 

Shuichi was slightly stunned at how... rude Byakuya had seemed to be. But, he guessed he didn’t expect anything less... he thought for a moment, before hesitantly replying to him, “ Well... If you were able to tell us any information it would mean you’re willing to cooperate with the police... that means if we did find anything in your business after getting a full search warrant, if you didn’t comply with us, it would say to the public that your company would condone such actions and there would be no evidence that you had no knowledge of it... but... if you do comply as tell us if you know anything, then we can release to the media that you were cooperative with the investigation, pulling potential charges away from you and pulling less attention from the moral your company as a whole....” He then widened his eyes softly, a small smile on his face, “ O-Oh, and I’m Shuichi Saihara by the way, new detective...” 

Togami had given off an extremely intimidating aura and the entrepreneur knew so himself, however the older detective managed to slip through the aura with his own. It was only used in fairly dire times or emergencies, but he'd wield it if needed, so Hajime spoke up. " Thank you, Shuichi. But you heard 'em. Do you want your company to have some flaw in the system which would attract unwanted attention and horrid tabloid, or help us so that won't happen and if possible, you may get positive credit and attention in doing so. We're not threatening you, but it's not too wise to oppose us. You know how Towa gets. Do you want to monkey through the legal ramifications or just helps us in this investigation? Because we can get the warrants to look around if needed." While Shuichi had told the blonde the legal system, Hajime was the one to back him up, but more importantly being the one to butt heads with the other if need be due to the new detective's shy demeanor. Hajime had said he would protect him, and it seemed like he was going on his word. 

Shuichi had glanced over at Hajime out of the corner of his eye, smiling internally while trying to keep on a serious face while talking to the head of the Togami Corporation. Feeling backed up was a good feeling he didn't think he'd ever get used to... Byakyua on the other hand, didn't look too pleased with the situation. He felt like he had been backed into a corner, and he despised it. After thinking it over at his desk for the few seconds of tense silence that had filled the room, he sighed and rubbed his temples. " The police force is really so annoying...." He mumbled quietly to himself before glancing up at them, " Fine. I'll cooperate in questioning, but you'll be getting nothing more than that. No, I have no knowledge of any of my workers making a device such as that. At least, none of them were instructed to. If they were to make anything like that, it would be under my nose and not approved by me in the slightest. Is that a decent enough answer for you, detectives?" 

Hajime huffed slightly, slightly getting riled up from how the young man talked about his work in such a distasteful manner. He would have said something, but now wasn't the time to get dragged out by security. Now was the time for information. " I don't think you look over 'every' item your company makes, so maybe one did slip by. If any type of device that's small enough to carry and disrupt any technological object, such as security, would be nice to know. And if a worker under did pull that off, wouldn't you like to know what secrets they're keeping from you?" He shrugged, pulling one of his legs onto his knee, getting comfy in the velveteen chair. " If not, then we'll be on our way." However, he knew enticing Togami take bait for could lead the entrepreneur into finding out information that Chiaki couldn't gain sometimes. 

Togami looked at the detective with a look of annoyance, half aware that he was being bated into giving a more decent answer but at this point wanting to get this over with more than anything and having it go down in a detective acceptable way. He looked over at Hajime, getting slightly annoyed with the presence of him. “ Don’t be ignorant, of course I would want to know about anything going on under my nose. Security hasn’t informed on any new leads and they were told to report any abnormal behavior making my employees to make sure that everything in the company runs smoothly. So, I‘m almost positive that there’s nothing going on in my company that I don’t know about. So, what are you implying? Did you find something wrong? If so, I would like to know. If not, I’d appreciate it if you would stop wasting my time.” 

" Look, we're just trying to get a look at some files that maybe someone overlooked or hid when someone wasn't watching. I'm not saying your company is even at fault. We just need to know if there's some documentation. If you want, you can look over the files and if you find something let us no. Hell, even rejected ideas from people who have tried to present something of that nature could be useful. I highly doubt you'll find a bomb project in there, but it's best to be safe than sorry." Hajime pressed a bit further but reeling back respectfully before security was called up for pissing off the pampered 'prince'. 

Togami exhaled slightly in annoyance, keeping his hands folded across the top of desk as he talked with the detectives. “ There’s no need for you two waste my time further and go digging through my files. I’ll have my security look through them and report if anything comes up concerning the machines you had previously mentioned before.” 

Shuichi had looked at the head of the corporation, smiling softly and nodding, “ W-Well, if it counts for anything, we appreciate your compliance.” 

Togami scoffed slightly at Shuichi’s positive talk, “ I don’t need any praise from a detective who just joined to force recently. Just shut your mouth.” Shuichi mentally reeled back from what Togami had said, not bothering to fight back and instead keeping himself quiet. 

The other detective stepped a bit forward, " Yeeeah, that'd be helpful, just let us know if you guys find something, and we'll go where you don't need to hear from us." He turned his hand a bit with the help of his wrist, swirling around, clearly not wanting to be there in the same room as the blonde. He gritted his teeth, cursing himself for what he was about to say, but the company always did end with deals instead of actually lending a hand. They did, but it was rare. Hajime held back a snarl and bowed as a thank you gesture, but with sarcasm dripping like poison, " Again, thanks, 'your majesty'.." He got up and walked out, muttering under his breath... Which the other detective could hear due to being so close behind him. And let's just say that Hajime had a very colorful language Shuichi had never heard from someone who wasn't trying to be a thug. 

Once out of the building he sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair, " Woof... That guy, I swear. He's a dick, but he sticks to promises fairly well." 

Shuichi had followed Hajime out of the building as quickly as he could, hearing the choice words that the superior detective had heard about the blonde corporate leader. And he also felt the attitude he had through the feeling in the air, slightly surprised he could even exude that kind of feeling...He felt his body relax slightly when they got outside, even in the cold winter air when he had gotten out of the building. “ Well...” He smiled softly, replying to Hajime’s comment, “ At least he s-sticks to his promises...!” He spoke, trying to be positivity back into the mood through small doses. 

Hajime shook his head a bit, " Yeah, but unfortunately he's a dickhead. If Togami can't find shit, we're at a dead end I'm afraid. But let's take a break from work. You going to next Friday's play of The Beauty and The Beast? I know your friend Kaede is going to be playing some good music for it. And I'll tell you, the songs are the best part, though my buddy Makoto knows the guy whose playing the beast-" he stopped right as he got to his car, seeing one of the tires being a bit deflated. " Shit, this isn't even my car... Welp... Sorry, but I gotta' go fix this. And unless you want to walk home, you’re stuck with me to take it." 

Shuichi had been listening to Hajime as he talked about the play that was going on Friday, hearing about it again... it must be something really popular. He then looked at the car and how the tire was deflated. It couldn’t have done that on its own, could it have...? They were inside for a while, but the tire was fine before they went inside... he looked at Hajime and nodded softly, “ Yeah, I’ll stick with you then.” He replied, crouching down slightly to look at the deflated tire and to inspect it. 

Hajime examined the weary tire before getting in and nodding, " Thanks. It doesn't look super bad, so we can at least get to the garage near here. Sides, you'll get to meet Chiaki and Chihiro's 'brothers', and the guy who’s going to play The Beast. Might as well get you on one of the brother’s good side before he ends up punching out cold like he did to me and Makoto one time." He got into the car, starting it up and driving carefully until he pulled over at a rather large mechanics. " Don't worry, you won't get punched out on my watch." 

Shuichi had gotten in the car with Hajime and had rode with him to the car garage that was near where they were. He blinked slightly when Hajime had brought up being punched and knocked out cold...he really didn't need more thrill like that at all today. But, if Hajime insisted he wouldn't get punched he'd believe him. He nodded at Hajime's statement, looking out towards the large mechanics garage and looking over the appearance of the outside of the building before they had pulled into its lot. 

" If you're wondering about the whole punching bit, well... Long story short, Taka was fighting with this one guy, because he kept speeding on his motorcycle. The two decided to do a 'manly competition' by seeing who'd pass out from being in a spa near the gym and I maaaay have made a joke, because afterwards, the two were all chummy, chummy." He coughed into his hand, averting his eyes away, " And... Er-may have tried to talk some advice for Taka to go out with him. He went really red and then his buddy punched me when he heard. Course Taka was upset his new friend punched me, but, well it happens." He rubbed the back of his neck in shame, recalling how stupid he was for teasing the guy, though he was trying to help a co-worker. 

Shuichi listened to his story, feeling slightly better when he had learned that the punch wasn’t just out of the blue... he also learned about the origin of the joke he had learned earlier when he had first went to the office, the one about Taka nearly passing out in a sauna... He then smiled and looked over at Hajime, “ Well, you were just trying to help, at least...” He spoke softly. 

Once the car was parked, Hajime smiled and chuckled lightly, " Yeah, that guy just has a loose fuse, nothing too bad." As the two walked in, feet clacking on the concreted flooring a male with magenta shoulder length hair had appeared nearby the mechanics, scratching his head with what appeared to be a monkey wrench while talking with another male who had striking purple eyes. They appeared to be having some sort of conversation until the shorter of the two point towards the car he and Hajime were in. " Hey guys, just need a tire fix before I return it back for the day-Oh right! This is my partner Shuichi. Shuichi, this is Kazuichi Souda." He shifted his hand out to the magenta haired male with surprisingly sharp looking teeth, then to the much broader man with the fierce purple eyes and odd black pompadour. " And Daiya Oowada. Daiya is one of Chihiro's 'brothers'." Hajime coughed lightly to whisper over to the younger detective, " As you can tell, Chihiro is clearly adopted." He clasped his hands and smiled to the two mechanics. Daiya smiled back in a sweet manner and took a step forward, gently shaking Shuichi's hand. 

The man with the darkened pompadour eyed Shuichi, " Ah, it's nice to meet you. Chihiro told us about you, you seemed like a nice guy to them! I'm happy to help a new friend of Hajime's!" For such a big guy, he was really careful... Along for looking like a biker, he was a bit nicer than his look showed off. 

Shuichi had looked at Daiya, being able to kind of assume that Chihiro was adopted even before Hajime had whispered in his ear and told him so. He then smiled towards the brother, flattered by the fact that he had been spoken highly of. “ Well, um, thanks!” He spoke, a soft smile on his face. 

Kazuichi looked over at Shuichi, interested in meeting the detective that he had heard about before from his outside sources. But he hid this feeling and went up to Shuichi with his big shark-toothed grin. “ Heya! Nice to meet you Shuichi!” He spoke, patting Shuichi on the shoulder. 

Shuichi jumped slightly from the sudden contact, a nervous smile on his face and chuckling nervously, “ U-Uh, Yeah! Nice to meet you too!” 

The larger burlier man smiled, nudging Hajime with his elbow, " So, what did you wreck this time? Almost accidentally run over Haiji again? Or was it the Star-Lucks kid again? Orrrr did Mondo do something... Again?" 

Hajime rolled his eyes lightly, blushing up from sheer embarrassment, not wanting his new partner to take the jokes the wrong way " We're just here to fix a tire. I'm not here to arrest him or suspect you guys, okay?" Hajime chuckled a bit, making the taller man with the pompadour do the same. Hajime then nudged Daiya with his elbow in return, not all pushing him, " So, you excited for your first big role at the Theater big guy?" 

The purple eyed man scratched the back of his neck, lightly blushing from the sudden enthusiasm from Hajime. " O-Of course. I'm just a bit nervous is all. But knowing I'll have my brothers there will help tremendously." 

Hajime pushed his bangs up and searched left to right, looking for something-or well someone." Speaking of which, where's the big lug?" 

" Ah, he's fixing up his hair, the primadonna." He shook his black shaded pompadour, " I swear, he's worse than me when it comes to looks for going out." 

Shuichi had listened to the conversation that Hajime and Daiya were having, slightly relieved when the pink haired mechanic took his hand off of his shoulder, feeling much better when he had his own personal space back. 

A few moments later, the man in question had walked out from the back of the shop, patting down a few spots on his hair that he had so meticulously spent time on. He then looked at who was there, a big grin spreading across his face, “ Hey! It’s Hajime!” He went over towards Hajime, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and shaking him slightly “ Nice to see ya’ buddy!” He spoke enthusiastically. By appearance, Shuichi would maybe have thought he could definitely be one to punch Hajime and loose his temper. But with his personality saying hi to Hajime...? It threw him off just slightly. 

The older detective hadn't even had the chance to initially react before he was suddenly shaken in a friendly yet rough manner due to his size, " W-Whoa! Hey Mondo!" He called out before retaining himself from the sudden dizziness he had gotten. 

Daiya knelt beside the police car, putting a jack near the bottom and cranking it up to lift the hefty car chuckling to himself over some fond memories, " Leave it to my bro to fuss about his hair whenever he's about to go out to the movies, to eat, to hang out with friends, ectara." Daiya moved back to snag a wrench from an open drawer behind him, which gave him the proper function to remove the deflated tire. " And that's how a fight broke out with him and Taka before the two became friends. You two idiots looked like shit afterwards. Good thing Ishimaru was off duty when that happened, or else your ass would have been in jail for the night." He only talked because he knew he could get away with it as he had a smirk rise up, helping Kazuichi with the tires. 

Kazuichi had knelt down with Daiya, doing something that he did best by helping with replacing the deflated tile with a focused grin on his face. Mondo listened to Daiya, laughing and patting Hajime roughly on the back before standing up straight next to him again. “ Yeah, I have to admit that was kinda dumb of me to act that was to a cop... but hey! I am pretty lucky! And I got a pretty awesome bro-friend out of the deal too!” He scratched the back of his neck, grinning happily with his eyes closed. Shuichi had lifted an eyebrow at the choice of saying ‘bro-friend’, making the whole thing sound like something it might not be...Mondo then looked over at Shuichi, “ Oh, hey, you’re new. The name’s Mondo.” 

He stuck out his hand for Shuichi to shake. “ A-Ah, my name’s Shuichi...!” He shook his hand back, Mondo enthusiastically shaking his hand firmly as well. 

Hajime laughed a bit in response, " That is true. Oh right, yeah Shuichi's my new partner. He's a good guy. Anyways, jeez... Friggen' Taka. Used to be the hall monitor in high school and usually busted people like Mondo due to 'dress code'. Guess it stuck onto him." Hajime sighed lightly but with a smile spread across his face at recalling Ishimaru's antics back in high school further. " Still a stickler for rules." Thankfully fixing up the tire wouldn't take too terribly long, letting the brunette realize something he had nearly forgotten, " Oh hey, I just realized! Since you're new and you're now roommates with that quiet girl, maybe I can have you go to her work tomorrow since it'll take a while for those reports to come in from Togami. The reason is, is that I know the kids she watches know something about D.I.C.E, but they don't trust any of the agency. But they won't know you're in it." It was a sly underhanded plan but might prove fruitful. Hajime looked away as he said it, not fully enjoying what he had mentioned as a plan that could potentially work, severely disappointed in himself for Shuichi to be a mole. 

Shuichi had listened to Hajime talk about Taka and what he was like in high school, finding it slightly amusing. Shuichi could definitely see the other detective being a hall monitor in high school. But when the elder detective suddenly exclaimed that he had realized something Shuichi turned his head to listen intently. When he first heard of the plan... he was slightly surprised to be honest. He didn't expect children at a daycare to know anything about a potentially dangerous gang’s activity. But he supposed it wouldn't be abnormal for this town at all. Shuichi nodded to the plan agreeing it with, " Um... sure...!" He replied with a slight smile on his face. In all honesty, he was rather curious now about what kind of information he could get from children about D.I.C.E.. 

Hajime shook his head, brushing his fingers through his hair, " They don't trust us because D.I.C.E apparently visits them in the night every other week or so. Maki got word when the kids were talking about it and we set up some cameras. They didn't do anything, and the kids didn't even notice we had put cameras in. But one day, one of the kids noticed the camera and confronted Maki and the lady working there. They wouldn't lie to the poor kids, so that's why the kids don't really trust us... Well that and before I was in the department, one of the kid's parents kinda got off scott-free from something, somehow before we got another report and finally busted him." 

Shuichi nodded after he had listened to Hajime's explanation of why the kids hadn't trusted the detectives. " Well," He began to speak, " D-Do we have any evidence as to why the gang would visit the kids in the night?" It seemed pretty shady that this gang would visit a daycare in the middle of the night for reasons other than talking to the kids there... Did the kids get information for D.I.CE, and if they did, what kind of information would it be? It's not like a child could attain any valuable information for a gang, could they...? Well, Shuichi supposed that he shouldn't underestimate anyone in this town, so he had to assume the children, or a child, could get important resources or information for D.I.C.E. Or maybe they were recruiting children just to make their numbers seem bigger...? Shuichi's thoughts were all over the place because of the matter. 

The other taped his foot a bit, thinking as he put a hand to his chin, " Not really... Though maybe they're trying to recruit them due to the kids being orphans, but the lady who works there would have noticed and whooped someone's ass by now. She may be elderly a bit, but she can kick your ass. Nearly clocked Haiji one time from what I've heard. That and Maki's very protective..." He shifted his hands to his hips and closed his eyes to try to get more insight of the whole mess. " Other than that, not sure... Maybe they use to be orphans and want to help? Their motives are all over the damned place." 

Shucihi took what Hajime said into consideration when he was thinking, taking a few seconds just to pull together his thoughts “ Well, what would be their definition of helping orphans, if we take it in that direction...It would probably be taking them away from where they are now and taking them in, so maybe one of the children there is part of the g-gang...? But if that was the case, then they would have been already taken away...maybe the children are too easy to track if gone missing, or more likely without legal adoption papers it would be kidnapping, which would be a serious offense...so maybe there’s a child member in the gang but they can’t leave there because the gang doesn’t tend to gravitate towards more serious offenses like that...” 

" I... I don't know." Hajime sighed out looking defeated. " All we know is that they talk with them and that's it. The kids seem to like them, but I'm not sure if that's because of some type of Stockholm syndrome or the kids don't like adults in the least bit. D.I.C.E is very childish when I think more about it..." 

In the background, Daiya yelled something, " Oi, tire is replaced!" He then stood up with his brother and the fellow mechanic, high-fiving each other. 

" Sweet, thanks guys! You guys are a life saver!" Hajime smiled back to the three mech-heads before gladly paying the surprisingly small fee. Normally other places would rip you straight off... Or well, back in the larger city Shuichi use to be in. Shuichi had chuckled awkward at Hajime's statement about not getting mugged, finding it all too real at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup...Togami is still an asshole


	8. Short People Got No Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No disrespect to short people, the chapter is from a song I heard from The Little Rascals and it was directed to the kids. I happen to be 4'9' or 4'10', so I know how it is being tiny.  
> That being said... Hope you guys are up for the five demon hunters! Though to be fair, in this AU, they're not insane, don't hate adults nearly as much but are still pretty damn traumatized...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind we're not having a dying Kaito. He just has bad immunity and needs to take medication for it.  
> his chapter is also where we find Shuichi has nice hips... According to the kids...  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0L_jAsB_aA  
> There use to be a DanganRonpa none but... It vanished, along with a good Night In The Woods one

Hajime waved them a goodbye as he got back into the patrol car, starting it up and backing out with his partner by his side in seat with buckle. " Anyways I can drop you off that's alright, I made a promise to Taka and Chiaki to help around the office a bit since we're waiting for those reports to come in. Seeing as it's night, I'll drop you off at your new place partner. This time, get some rest, and try not to get mugged." He slightly chuckled, rather nervously in tone, but he did mean well for the navy haired male as he dropped him off after a while. The slightly younger detective hoped that there was still people at his new home so he wouldn't be there alone again. The gang would be less likely to visit him in the middle of the night, or at least those were his thoughts. After Hajime had stopped the car in front of his new place, he opened the door and stepped into the cold air of outside before quickly shutting it. 

He had waved Hajime goodbye before turning around and heading into through the front door of the home, speaking like he was small and shy-which to be fair, he was. " I... I'm home!" To see if anyone had been there.He guessed that no one was home, judging by how still and quiet the home was. It wasn't eerie though; it was actually a little comforting. Shuichi found himself to have a nice quiet night by himself until the others got home. Of course, Kaito and Kaede immediately worried once they had come home but were more than grateful that Shuichi seemed fine and not shaken up like the previous night. They in fact enjoyed a nice dinner with each other, with Kaito going on about some past stories that had happened to him while Shuichi was away in the previous town. Shuichi had enjoyed the hours from when he had gotten home, to dinner, and to the next morning. The happy vibe in the air had been nothing short of comforting and reassuring. 

Thus, came morning where the detective was greeted by the others, with Kaito doing the dishes this time, and being vaguely harassed by both of the young women into taking his medication. " Alright, alright, you win, you win!" He threw up his airs in defeat before walking into the other room to down his daily dose. 

Maki simply shook her head, letting her eyelids close upon her crimson pupils, " I swear sometimes, he doesn't take them on purpose." 

Shuichi had chuckled softly when he had saw both of the girls in the household arguing with Kaito to take his daily medication, glancing over at Maki as she made her statement with a smile on his face. Kaede huffed slightly when Kaito had finally went to go take his medication, having her arms crossed in front of her chest. She had completely agreed with Maki's statement on the subject. " I swear," she started to speak. " If he didn't have you Maki, I don't think h-he would last long with how much he forgets these things...!" 

The girl in red had to agree, muttering under her breath at how hopeless Kaito seemed at times, " Tell me about it... Anyways how the rehearsal been?" The girl took a sip of earl grey tea that she had prepared prior to her awakening. "I mean, I'm sure it'll go well, I'll be bringing the kids to come and see it, they're all really excited to see and listen to it." Maki gave a faint smile, soft but genuine. " Besides that, Kaito even got someone to fill in for him so he could go and see it. I'm sure it'll go wonderfully." She walked past the blonde and patter her shoulder, full of reassurance. Guess this is what made smaller towns enjoyed instead of having several big things going on at once like in the other cities. It sounded like quite a few people were excited and ready for it. 

Kaito had come back after his medication, sticking his tongue out from the taste of it, " Though..." His face became plain and slightly puzzled, " Is it true that the tiara for the play is an actual thing? Aren't you guys worried it might fall and break?" 

This definitely wasn't the first time that Shuichi had heard about the play that was going to be put on towards the end of the week, as it seemed to be on everyone's minds. But this was the first time he had heard anything about a tiara... He looked towards Kaede, waiting for her answer. Kaede just smiled brightly as she sat at the table, " It went smoothly! I'm so exited and, yes! The tiara is actually real. Precious metal, jewels, everything. It's really gorgeous actually, I'm kind of jealous... anyway. The real crown isn't really used during rehearsal and has only been brought out once or twice to practice with. And everyone's been informed to be cautious around it, so I'm sure everything will be okay!" Shuichi had listened to Kaede's description of the crown, his mind automatically drifting off towards work related things even if he wasn't at work yet... he wondered if there would be tight security there because of the crown... no one would want it to get stolen... Shuichi paused for a second, before a thought suddenly popped into his head. He choked slightly on the coffee he was drinking, some of it going up his nose as he put the cup down and started to cough. The thought that maybe this set up was too convenient for the well-known gang to show up at was full of red flags. Shuichi had realized he had been so focused in trying to figure out who the members of D.I.C.E were that they had spent no time in trying to predict their next move, which could be dangerous... Shuichi coughed and sniffled from the hot coffee going up his nose and hurting his through slightly as he had thought about it. 

Kaito grinned to his old friend, " You can more than likely trust the big guy playing the beast to be delicate with that. Even though he's kinda' a teddy bear at times and huddles up when spooked, he's always been extremely careful. Specially ever since his dumb-ass brother almost got hit by a truck and almost got killed himself." He whistled out, " I dun' even wanna' think about a type of world where Daiya woulda' died in, that'd be a shitty place to live in... But, whatever the case, I already know you all are gonna' do great! And speaking of great... The Great Luminary of the Stars is off!" he snatched a biscuit from the table, rushing outside with his galaxy shimmering coat and a scarf. 

Maki gave a small subtle chuckle from the eagerness of her dear friend. She daintily ate the rest of her breakfast, throwing away the napkin it had been wrapped in. " I must be off too. I will see you two later." She stopped as her eyes locked onto Shuichi who looked like he had something to say. She merely raised a brown brow and asked, " Hm? You need to tell me something?" 

Kaede had looked at both Maki and Shuichi and noticed the tense air in the moment from how Shuichi looked like he had wanted to say something. Kaede quickly then got up from the table, smiling slightly and exiting the room so the two could be alone if they needed to. Shuichi then sighed softly to himself, looking up at Maki straight in the eyes before speaking out hesitantly. " I... I'm investigating at the orphanage today concerning the incidents that have happened there related to the gang known as D.I.C.E... they want me to go because the kids won't likely know that I'm a detective with the police department..." He kept gazing up at her, not taking his eyes off hers. " S-So, I'll be seeing you sooner rather than later.... and I would really appreciate if you could keep the whole detective things under wraps as well..." He then broke eye contact, the awkwardness he felt finally pooling up enough to the point where he couldn't keep eye contact. 

The silent girl's eyes squinted, judging over him with a disdain look upon her face... Worst of all Kaito wasn't around to ease her into complying. She exhaled and gave a faint glare, which was more intact without Shuichi having the cap on him, " Hrm, well, I don't particularly enjoy someone 'investigating,' and 'interrogating' the children. They have been through enough hardship already... If you want to do this, fine... But if you make any of them upset, I will tear you a sunder and make you terrified to live here... But besides that, the kids do need to see other faces that don't mean any harm to them. They need some socializing, so maybe you can help with that... If not and you prod them like Haiji, you're future relation with me will be strewn about in the harshest of ways..." She gave a warning before saying her daily goodbye to the other girl, walking outside in a thick vibrant red coat. " Just so you know, they can be quite... Interesting. Don't worry about them doing anything normal kids would do, they're mainly afraid of adults is all. But I've been making progress with them. Basically, good news is that there's not many, but they're bad cases from where they've come from." 

Shuichi felt the anxiety rise in his chest when Maki had glared at him, being able to feel truly how intense it was without his cap on. It was at times like these he wished he didn't agree to keep his hat off... Shuichi had followed Maki outside, listening to her description of the kids and their behavior. Shuichi then gave her a soft and nervous smile, trying to reassure her of his intentions, " O-Oh, I really don't have any intention of pushing the kids at all really... if they like me, they'll tell me, but otherwise..." He looked off to the side " It just doesn't feel right to me to push kids, especially those with hard pasts, to talk about things that they don't want to..." Shuichi had bit his lip slightly, feeling just a little personal connection to being pried to talk to at distressing times. " It j-just isn't healthy for children... So, if they don't tell me I wont keep on pushing and I'll just say there isn't anything of note... and my boss and my partner may just have to deal with it." 

Maki relaxed once she started the car, the heater warming her up, but more of hiding any expressions from neighbors behind the shit door and glass. She started it up and thought, " Thank you... Sorry, it's just, we've had a few things going on there, and I rather not have them cry and be confused." She bitterly spat out, " Fucking Towas..." She shook her head, waving her hair around then looked to her new roommate, " Anyways, there's a few things you need to know NOT to do. Just a few. Do not say 'Gentle' to the one in pink. Besides that, don't bring up anything about ugliness, alcohol, needles, and not being able to use one's legs. Other than that, you'll be fine. They're all different and come from various problems, but they're sweet once you get to know them. If there's anything off about any of them, just brush it off." 

Shuichi had nodded when Maki had told him all about the kids and what not to do around them, which he found extremely helpful. He leaned over slightly too look at her through the window, giving her a soft and happy smile "Thanks, Maki, you're really a big help." 

Her eyes gazed over to see a patrol car rolling in, " I'll meet you when you get there." She then took off while Hajime pulled in, poking his head out curiously. 

He then watched as Maki drove away in her car, looking back at Hajime who was sticking his head out of the window. He gave him a small and friendly smile before walking over to the patrol car and getting in, feeling the heated air warm his whole body up from being outside. " Good Morning...!" Shuichi spoke, feeling slightly more confident being around Hajime and finding it slightly easier to talk to him. 

" Hey yourself." Hajime smiled, pushing the side seat's door open for Shuichi to plop down in and warm himself up from the icy cool chill of winter. 

The superior drove them to the classical diner, new rubber crushing the soft bit of snow around the streets and parking lot. Hajime entered the diner with him, ingesting the sweet smells from the kitchen that Teruteru happily cared for as he cooked. He sat onto his favorite stool and waved to the plump chef, " Hey Teruteru, same as usual, as for my partner, whatever they want that isn't over twenty bucks." He chuckled, though semi-serious. It was a good bet Hajime would pay for his food and drink for the first week or so in the small town. 

Shuichi had smiled when Hajime had offered to pay for his breakfast again, flattered by the thought of it. Teruteru poked his head out of the window like usual, a big grin on his face " Okey-doke!" He then went back into the kitchen to prepare the food for that day. Shuichi then looked over at Hajime, recalling what he had thought about this morning related to the tiara that was going to be in the play on Friday. He made a mental note to talk about it to the superior detective in a more private setting than a diner. 

Soon and sure enough the waiter skated over with a... frown? He gave off a dramatic and long sigh, " Hello... Sssssorry for being a pain so much yesterday... I guess..." He rolled his lilac eyes, not really apologizing in full force before putting his elbow on the table, propping himself up to look at the two from the opposite side of the counter. That was when his usual grin came back, " You knooooow... They have an ice rink at the mall! How about I take you there as an apology Mister Detective~?" He gave off his toothy grin, while Hajime's brow raised, watching. It was like magic was being conjured before his eyes, he rarely saw the little imp try to make up for something so mundane-or rather anything at all. 

Shuichi had glanced over at the waiter when he rolled over, widening his eyes just slightly when he had apologized for yesterday and when he had asked him to go to the ice rink with him as well to top it all off. Well...at least this whole 'becoming friends with him' thing was off to a pretty good start. Shuichi didn't know what to say for a few seconds, before slowly opening his mouth with just a small and meek smile on his face as he replied " U-Um...sure...!" He looked at the purple haired boy leaning on the opposite side of the counter, slightly flustered over the sudden request. And to go to an ice rink of all places? Not that he was complaining though... " W... When would you be available to go then?" 

With this, both of Hajime's thin brow rose as his eyes went wide, nearly at fish mode. Sure, he had heard the other trying to gain friendship with the gremlin, but it was still shocking from seeing him smile just a bit. Hajme was growing confused on if it was genuine or Shuichi was a good actor... " Well, I'm free later today when I'm off... Nishishi, maybe you can invite your friends, some of my roommates are coming along. Sides I've seen Rantaro look at Kaede~." He snickered a bit, showing off his wide grin, looking delighted that Shuichi would actually go with him. Kokoichi couldn't and wouldn't declare but the new detective looked cute when he was flustered, unlike many other people he knew. 

Shuichi had nodded when Kokichi said to bring another person with, raising a brow slightly when Kokichi had talked about the way Rantaro looked at Kaede... “ O-Oh, well, then I’ll ask her to come with...!” Shuichi replied before freezing slightly. Wait... if he was inviting Kaede for... Love related reasons between her and Rantaro... then what were he and Kokichi going for? Just a make-up for how Kokichi acted? Or... what it something more? At this moment, after his thoughts lead him to embarrassment, his cheeks began to heat up to a blush. He began to get more flustered, avoiding eye contact with anyone. 

" I'm sure your roomies would appreciate it." He giggled before lowering his tone a bit, " Nishishi, I get nervous being alone with new people, never ends well... Any who~!" 

Hajime looked over, eyes narrowing, " You're in an awfully good mood and that normally means something awful will happen. What are you planning you little munchkin?" 

Kokichi skated away, hands behind his back, acting innocent, " Why do you wound me so?! I'm just making up for being a pain in the ass yesterday, sides it's not like I'm inviting you! Though Komaeda will be there, so if you wanna' tag along-" Hajime leaned far away from the waiter, to the point if he was sitting on a normal chair, it would have screeched against the tile below him. " I just want my roomies and his to have a nice time, is that too much to ask for? Gaaaawsh!" 

Shuichi looked over at Hajime as he scooted over, not being able to help finding the situation maybe just a little amusing... because of how Hajime had reacted to the purple haired waiter and how against him he seemed to be. But then Hajime’s thought had to have him think...was there another reason behind being invited out...? Well, if they were in a group Shuichi was sure that they would be fine. He looked over at Hajime with a small smile on his face, “ I’m sure it’ll be fine...!” He then looked over to Kokichi, a soft and genuine smile on his face as well as a soft and slightly flustered blush on his face. He really didn’t even know his own powers of cuteness, and how sometimes he could just look so... innocent and pretty cute. “ I... I can’t wait....!” 

The purple haired boy simply smiled back instead of his usual devious grin, “ Meet up at around seven then~!" He said, skating away to fetch them their orders. Hajime re-balanced himself and sat up straight, adjusting his murky green colored tie to look at Shuichi. 

" I can't say if he's playing you or you're playing him..." He ruffled his hair between his fingers trying to make sense of who was setting up who. It wasn't like Kokichi had known Shuichi was trying to get close in order to suspect him, right? But at the same time, something unsettling kicked in his gut, like a sixth sense of sorts. " Just curious but... What happens if you do become friends with the little brat, letting you grow on him and he's actually innocent, will you leave him behind? And if you do become attached instead and he's our guy... What'll you do?" Hajime didn't want to think about either situation, but it'd be inevitable at some point. Better to ask before it happen to be safe. 

Shuichi looked over towards Hajime as he asked him the question about what he would do with Kokichi after the whole investigation came to a close, “ Well... that all depends on what happens when I get to know him, I guess....” He spoke, starting to look down at the counter “ If I become friends with him and he’s innocent, then I’ll most likely remain to be friends with him... i-if he’s our guy... I’d probably want to know why he had done all of these things before I could make a judgement...” He kept gazing down at the counter, not knowing how Hajime would react to this statement. 

The other nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, " Well... It'll be your choice at the end, I guess. I won't judge you. I just really hope you get some answers. It'd be nice to get some facts from him without all the damned lying." Shuichi had nodded softly towards Hajime’s statement, agreeing that it would be nice to see the real person who had hid behind all of those lies. 

Soon the two had finished their daily breakfast from family mom and son type of diner, letting Hajime drop off Shuichi to the orphanage. When they got there, Shuichi took a deep breath before getting up out of the car and making sure he had everything with him and that it was stored away where the kids couldn’t get to it easily. He then looked at Hajime and smiled softly, “ I’ll see you later then...!” 

Hajime waved, sending his farewell and regards for the day, driving off as the tires crumpled the snow in flat sheets of powdered white. Finally, Shuichi came in through the doors of a rather large home, much like his new one. There must have been a craze of large homes back in the day or maybe cabins due to the quint town with snow. Whichever reason once he entered the warmed-up abode, an elderly lady walked over to greet him. Maki was around, glancing over, informing the elderly woman, " There he is-" 

The other woman cut her off as she went and grabbed him by the cheek, pinching him slightly in the process while, " Ohhh! You found a big one this time Maki!" 

" M-Miss Hasegawa, I told you that's not a child. This is the friend Kaito had told me about, he's just visiting." 

The elderly woman soon let go of the newly pinched cheeks, before her seemingly strong hands did the gesture again as she gave a wide smile from under her own scarf, " He's a cutie!" 

Shuichi tensed up slightly when the older woman had pinched his cheeks and started to pinch at them, relived and thankful that Maki has stopped her when she did. Once the woman let go of his cheeks, he rubbed one of them to try and make the soreness go away. He then had a nervous and slightly embarrassed smile on his face when she had called him cute, " O-Oh, um...thanks...?" He replied awkwardly, not sure on what to say in these kinds of situations. He then cleared his throat slightly, his small smile on his face still " U-Um, I'm just here to visit... see what the orphanage that Maki works at is like..." 

Maki gave a fierce look his way, " And to help around..." 

The woman smiled and took his hand, shaking it, " That's quite alright dearie. They need the socialization from some people who have a heart. Oh by the way, I'm the caretaker here, Momo Hasegawa dearie! Wonderful to meet a friend of a friend of Maki's. If you want, there's some cookies down in the living quarters where some of the kids are watching they're movies while the others are playing out in the snow. Now if you don't mind sonny, grandma's gotta' go check on the ones in the living quarters and see what the lil' tykes are doing!" For an elderly and scrawny looking woman, she sure was bursting with energy and joy. " If you want to start to fit in and help, go along in the yard outside and watch over the three if you could." 

Shuichi had listened to the energetic older woman giving him directions on things he could be doing now instead of just standing there and talking to them. “ U-Um, sure!” He exclaimed, a smile on his face “I’ll go out to the yard and watch over the three that are out there...” He looked over towards Maki, an embarrassed look on his face, “ Um... how do I get to the yard, actually...? Is there a back door?” She rolled her red eyes and pointed to a door. She seemed... Tense. More than likely due to her still not enjoying the fact that Shuichi was there originally to ask questions. 

Outside, one child had spiky red hair, the other wore a mask over his face. Both could be seen having small bits of snow on top of their heads and shoulders, which meant that they probably had a snowball fight prior to his arrival. They giggled among themselves, running from the opposite direction each other and hiding behind their individual snow forts. Despite the mess of patches, he called a mask, the child under it smiled widely and he ducked behind what he dubbed his 'snow fortress.' He knelt down, his gloved hands quickly pressing snow together to create a sphere. The child did this rather quickly too, as if it were some sort of competition. The masked child tried hurling the snowball towards the red head, the other child whose grin had matched his smile. However, instead of hitting his desired target, he hit the detective instead. " Oh, I'm sorry!" He called out, running over to get a clearer view of his accidental target, " I didn't mean it, please don't get mad!" Shuichi had been surprised when the cold ball of snow had hit him, not expecting it. He watched as the masked child came over to apologize, insisting that the detective not get mad about it. 

The red head with the spiky hair peeked out to see the new person and kept his snowballs at bay, " Huh? Who are you?" His bright blue eyes scan Shuichi as he gets up from his small fort, clutching the snowy ball firmly in his gloved hands. He walked over cautiously to Shuichi, scrunching up a small bandaged across the ridge of his nose, " Huh, you don't smell like smoke or bad stuff. But as the leader I need to know who you are!" He huffed a bit, stamping a foot into the snow... It was sadly cute as he tried acting much bigger and tougher than the child actually was. 

Shuichi then looked over to the boy with spiky hair, finding it pretty cute how tough and brave he had seemed to act for a kid his age. Like he was an older adult. Shuichi smiled softly, crouching down to be at eye level with them before smiling softly “ O-Oh no, of course I’m not mad about being hit with the snowball...! It looks like a lot of fun, actually.” He spoke, trying to connect with the kids. He then looked over to the spiky haired boy, his smile still on his face. “ My name’s Shuichi, I’m friends with Maki. I’m just visiting for the day to see where she works and to meet all of the k-kids she keeps telling amazing stories about...!” 

" Ohhh... You know Miss Maki! We don't really tell such good stories besides Monaca." The masked boy said rather slow in manner, " I only draw stories. Uhm-yeah. I'm Jataro Kemuri." The masked kid glanced up at Shuichi, " I wonder if aliens exist..." Before anyone knew it, Jataro had begun rambling about random things. He sometimes strayed away from the topic, but always managed to return to it. 

Once the masked boy was done with his small babbling, the other puffed up a bit and proudly pointed a thumb to his chest, grinning wide to show his set of white teeth-with a missing one, " I'm Masaru Daimon! And I help take care of the others from mean adults! Buuut. You don't look mean... But more like a total weenie with feminine hips!" He laughed a bit before suddenly taking Shuichi's hand and shaking it, " It's nice to meet an adult who doesn't smell or look bad. Though, if you are bad, I'll beat you up even if you cry uncle! Oh! Right, are you..." He shifted his eyes side to side in secrecy, " Are you an 'Animal Person'?" 

Shuichi had listened to his blabbing the whole time, really listening to what he was talking about and nodding his head every few seconds or so to give off the vibe that he really was listening. Once Jataro was done with his talking, he looked over to Masaru when he introduced himself. He widened his eyes slightly and his face heated up in embarrassment. A kid said he had.... feminine hips...? And he looked like a weenie...? But he quickly snapped out of it when he was asked if he was an animal person, finding the question odd all of a sudden. Maybe...was it some sort of code. That means he had to try and see if he could answer the question correctly... " Oh, um..." Shuichi spoke softly, glancing around at what Masaru was looking at when his eyes had shifted, " Y-Yeah, I am.....Are you an 'Animal Person'?" He didn't know if this was the right answer... but it was worth a shot. 

Masaru squinted, raising a large red fiery brow, " Huh? Why are you asking me?! I'm not old enough to be an 'Animal Person'!" 

The conversation turned around on its head as Shuichi felt someone poking his hips. It was Jataro, who was prodding his hips with a gloved finger, " Masaru is right, Shuichi's hips are girly!" Shuichi got flustered again when he felt the other child poking at his hips, completely embarrassed. His hips weren't that girly, right...? 

Masaru chuckled along with his friend, " Oh man, we'll have to tell the others about this sometime. But anyways, show me if you're an 'Animal Person'!" He held out his hand to the slightly demoralized detective expecting something. He then watched the young red hared boy stick out his hand, not knowing what to do with it... he had to prove he was an 'animal person'...? And why was Masaru too young to be an 'animal person'...? So, without knowing what to do, Shuichi just shook the boy's hand. Masaru shook his head, letting small clumps of snow drop off from his head. " So, you're not an 'Animal Person', darn." 

Jataro stared at the two, his greyish-lavender eyes staring intently at the two. " Masaru, I don't think he understood what you meant about being an 'Animal Person'." Truth be said, the child had exactly hit the nail with a hammer. " Maybe we should explain before testing it out?" 

He looked over at Jataro as he hit the nail on the head, explaining Shuichi's dilemma. " Yes, exactly...!" He spoke, agreeing with the masked boy. "I don't really completely understand what you meant about being an 'animal person', because..." He started to trail off, thinking of something he could say. " I... I've only recently just got here, but I do have a passion for animals...? If that makes sense...?" 

Masaru folded his arms and sighed, " Okay, let's take you to Nagisa then, follow me Mister Feminine Hips." The red head stated before taking hold of the detective's hand and pulling him along to what seemed to be a small childish library room inside of the building. Shuichi allowed himself to be pulled off by the small boy to wherever he had wanted to take him, still slightly embarrassed for being called 'Mister Feminine Hips', but he supposed that it was just something he would have to get used to at this rate... Jataro simply giggled, beginning to skip a little. He would then stop for a short period of time, as if he had just thought of something before continuing on his merry way. Masaru called out in the quiet room, " Hey Nagisa! Can you tell this weenie guy about the 'Animal People'?!" 

Sitting near the back on a chair sat another child with blue hair and equally blue eyes as they seemed to be reading a book at a moderately higher level than most kids of their ages. The child put the book down and sighed into his orange scarf, looking a bit annoyed from having to pause from his reading. " Masaru, I told you, if you're going to suspect people of being affiliated with them, don't test them just out right." 

" But-But this dork isn't here to adopt, and he doesn't smell funny... I just ya' know thought he could be..." Masaru fumbled with his words before looking to the floor sheepishly. 

Nagisa rolled his eyes and got up from his chair, making way to Shuichi. He looked at the boy with blue hair and blue eyes, immediately learning his name for later use when it was called out. When Nagisa had spoken about being affiliated with 'them'... did he mean D.I.C.E....? Maybe there was a lead here after all... He looked down at the small child, a soft yet awkward smile on his face. “ H-Hi there. I’m Shuichi-“ 

Midway through Shuichi introducing himself, he was interrupted by Jataro. " NAGISA, LOOK, HE HAS GIRLY HIPS!" Shuichi had sputtered out when they had commented on his hips again, trying to get Jataro to stop chanting about him having feminine hips. But he looked at the small boy with blue hair. His personality was definitely a... welcomed change. Definitely not childish seeming at all, contrasting with the other two he had met previously. 

Masaru cackled out along side his friend, but only got the distinction of yet another sigh from Nagisa who at this point was pinching the ridge of his own nose in frustration before pushing it aside. " Riiight... Anyways, Pleasure to meet you, I guess. I am Nagisa Shingetsu. And if you are not here to adopt, have no badge, don't look like or act like a pervert, or anything else terrible, then you must be one of Miss Maki's friends. With that being said, it is nice to meet you. However, if I am mistaken, Miss Maki can easily snap your wrist if given word. You're in our home, don't take to us like we know nothing of the world or adult's intentions." For a young child... He sure spoke sharply, and his small glare was actually... Intimidating oddly enough. 

He gave the boy a small and reassuring smile " It's nice to meet you too. And yes, I'm a friend of Maki's. Also, yes... she had warned me before coming here that she wouldn't hesitate to do anything if I stepped out of line. I'm usually pretty nice anyway... w-well, at least I think so..." 

After Shuichi had trailed off, a small girl with long pink hair in pigtails poked her head through the entrance of the library. " So this is where everyone is!" She spoke with excitement, walking into the room with a slight bounce in her step. " Whoa! It's someone new!" She then paused, thinking for a second. " Hmmm... why does he have such girly hips...?" 

Jataro giggled again, quick to notice the detective's distraught. He pat his back, or at least as much as his height allowed him to. " Don't worry! Nagisa only means well! He's just trying to intimidate you with big fancy words." 

" Super big words that nerds use!" Masaru backed him up slightly, probably due to the fact Shuichi hadn't gotten angry at either of the two for poking fun at him before the girl entering caught his bright blue eyes, " Hey Kotoko! This is Miss Maki's friend. We're on the case about his hips. 

Nagisa sighed lightly, shrugging the other three off, " Anyways... The whole 'Animal People' is our code-name for D.I.C.E. If you're new to this town, I'm sure you've heard plenty about them. But they're not like what people say, far from it. They visit us every now and then, bringing us clothes, toys, books, movies, and even read stories to us. One time during Monaca's birthday, they brought cupcakes. They like to wear animal masks when they visit. They're very nice people with no horrid intentions. They don't outcast or look down upon us for being children or looking ugly. They don't dare harm us, manipulate us, tell us we're useless, or even try to ‘touch’ us. We do want to help them, but they don't want us to be in the group, saying it's dangerous. And honestly... We believe them. Why would someone go out of their way to help us? We know how bad the world can be, they just want us to be safe like so very few people do... Some are trapped as a kids in adult bodies. They don't want to see our futures fall apart like theirs. That's why we promised not to follow in their footsteps but believe in the ideology of being helpful and kind to those around us." 

" Mhm! They even got me to stop enjoying others who hate me!" Everyone stared at Jataro, whose statement sounded quite odd and slightly confusing. The masked child, being the special little butterfly, he was, would simply smile and bat his eyes innocently. 

Kotoko snickered slightly when Masaru had told her that they already noticed his hips, inspecting the new adult visually while he talked to Nagisa. Shuichi had listened to Nagisa talk about their experience with D.I.C.E, slightly shocked that all of this information would just come out the open like this... well, it wasn't like any of it was bad. It was all good things that the gang were doing for these children, and the only crime in this at all would be breaking and entering... it also seemed like they were teaching them really useful and positive things... Shuichi himself began to think about how the gang wasn't as bad or as important to catch as the force seemed it to be... " Well... it definitely seems like they're doing a lot for you guys... it's definitely the opposite than what I've been hearing from people in this town about them... b-but, that just goes to show you don't really know someone unless you've met them and talked to them...!" 

Nagisa gave a slight disdained look, " Of course it's the opposite... Most adults can't be trusted. Yeah D.I.C.E. steal, but most of the time they give things back, and if they do sell what they stole, oh well. It's easy to replace a material. But not a life. They've never took anyone's, not like how adults took ours. We may not be dead, but they still managed to break them..." He closed his harsh gaze and gritted his teeth, getting onto himself of how much information he was spilling, but at the end if it all, Nagisa was sick of everyone belittling the group who had helped prove they didn't need to live in Hell. " They told us and showed us a special hand-shake in case we ever met one of them without their mask. Ever since the incident with the chief police hid outside our room to try and catch one." 

Masaru patted the odd little child on the shoulder before grinning wide, " Oh yeah, that was fun! We knew he was there, so when he came into the room, we all tackled him so the Animal Person could run away. Me, Kotoko, and Jataro even got to throw Monaca's wheelchair at him with her permission!" 

Kotoko laughed when Masaru had told the story about them tackling the police chief. " Yeah!" She exclaimed, a happy look on her face, " I even tried to bite him! For spying on us and the Animal People and on us! But then the ‘Animal People’ said that biting wasn't nice, and that you could get in trouble for doing that... so I don't do it anymore!" 

Shuichi had taken in how much Nagisa had to say on the matter, even chuckling slightly when they had mentioned that the police had been tackled by a bunch of little kids and even attacked with a wheelchair... what he wouldn't give to actually see that happening in person... He snapped his thoughts back to the matter at hand, a smile still on his face. " W-Well...I'm glad that you told me all of this then, to clear up things I've been hearing about since getting here. It really does seem like a lot of adults just assume things and spread bad rumors when they're blind to what's actually going on...." He looked at them, " People really do underestimate kids... but in reality, they're more truth seekers and wiser than adults." 

The masked kid flailed his sleeves around excitedly, as if recalling a good memory, " It was super funny! He was squeaking around and yelled a bunch of profanities!" He then drops onto the floor and rolled around, most likely imitating what Towa had done. 

Masaru laughed out and dropped to the floor clutching his stomach, " Ahaha! Ja-Jataro you're killing me, ahahaha! He-He sounded like a little girl and his face grew briiight red! L-Like a pom-pom! Ahahaha!" 

Nagisa couldn't help but crack a smirk from recalling the event, and with Jataro portraying it out didn't help him hide it. " He got angry at us of course for not telling him much on D.I.C.E., but we had Miss Hasegawa and Miss Maki to rain down on him for getting on to us. He said that, that was the closest he had ever got to one of them. He's not allowed over here anymore... Every time he walks by, Miss Hasegawa yells at him. He'll never live it down." Giving another chuckle, imagining an elderly woman having the chief of police fear her in such a dainty manner of merely yelling at him. I'm glad to see that you understand and don't just assume. However, we still don't know you that well. We'll need to have you see Monaca." 

Shuichi smiled as the kids had laughed about the incident, chuckling softly as he thought of the elderly woman whom he had met earlier yelling at Towa whenever he had ever just walked by. He then listened to Nagisa, wondering about who exactly this Monaca person he was talking about was... Kotoko jumped up quickly from laughing with the boys, a big smile on her face, " I'm on it! I'll go get Monaca and bring her here!" With a slight skip in her step, she had left the room. 

A few minutes later, she had come back with a girl by her side that was rolling herself across the floor of the library. She looked over at Shuichi, a smile on her face and moving her hands so the palms of her fingers were touching with delight. " Wow, so you must be the new guy with dainty hips Kotoko was telling me about!" Shuichi mentally sighed, the insult catching him off-guard every time he heard it even though he should be used to it by now. Kotoko snickered. Monaca rolled up to everyone, " My name is Monaca! It's very nice to meet you, misteeeeer..." She trailed off, not knowing his name. 

Shuichi had finished her sentence for her, " Shuichi. And it's nice to meet you too, Monaca...!" 

The blue haired boy shyly avoided looking directly to the new girl in the wheelchair as he spoke, " This is one of Miss Maki's friends." He cleared his throat before going into his logical and analytical mode, " He's not an Animal Person, but he seems fairly decent... But I'm still not sure if we can trust him. He did tell us that we can be wiser than the adults who go around spreading rumors and wanting to capture and incarcerate them." 

The slower boy tilted his head, " What's incarcerated mean? Does it mean to be created in a car-" He then gasped, eyes glittering as he came across the meaning, " Ohh! Maybe that's how that robot guy was made! From inside a car! That makes sense... Are cars girls?" Nagisa merely put his fingers to his forehead, inhaling deeply not to upset the other. 

The pink haired girl looked over to the slower boy, puffing out her cheeks in disappointment. “ Nu-uh! If robots were created in cars then that means there would have to be a Mommy car and a Daddy car! So, all cars can’t be girls, stupid!” Monaca giggled slightly at the conversation the other two were having, but also had listened to what Nagisa said with a calm and cheerful smile on her face, nodding at his analysis of the new adult in their midst. She then glanced over towards him, looking at him straight in the eyes for a few seconds. 

Shuichi... didn’t exactly know what to do. So, he just kept eye contact with her. A few moments later, Monaca blinked and giggled slightly. “ Uh-huh! I think we can trust him! I’m getting a super good feeling from him!” She spoke, putting a finger out in front of her as she suddenly turned a little darker than she had been before, “ Besides, if he turns out not to be trustworthy, Miss Maki will make sure to make his life a living hell~!” She then turned back to normal, a big smile on her face. Shuichi had gotten the chills. “ Just kidding! That was just a funny joke!” Monaca spoke to clearly everything up, throwing her arms into the air. 

The masked boy put a sleeve to his mouth, thinking over the facts circulating around his head, " Ohhh. I guess that makes sense. But why does it need to be a mommy and daddy-Oh wait what-Oh Monaca likes you? Wow, you must be super special! She doesn't even like fake crab meat..." 

The small red head hopped up and down, pumped up and excited, " If Monaca trusts you then we trust you Mister Girly Hips! But if you double cross us I'll be forced to beat you up so badly that you'll need to go to the hospital to recover from such nasty Indian burns mister!" 

The calm and collective boy only evaded eye contact from the rough and tumbling red head, " Well it's decided then, we'll trust you for now, though I'd still like some proof like D.I.C.E., but you can save that for the future, right Monaca?" 

Monaca had a bright smile on her face, pressing her fingertips together and tilting her head to the side cutely. “ Mhm! He is better than fake crab meat! And I’m positive we can trust him even without proof like the Animal People!” Kotoko giggles happily when Monaca had approved of the new grown-up that had joined them, being quite fond of him already. “ Yaaay! He can stay and play with us so we can keep pointing out why his hips are so girly!!” At this point, Shuichi had gotten used to being called out by his hips rather than his name being. But he was relieved that all of the kids in the room had seemed to trust him... it made everything much easier and it would probably make Maki happy as well...

At this point Maki came into the room to see if anything needed to be cleaned, but caught sight of Shuichi. She blinked a bit and gave a small smile. " Wow, you're actually doing good with the kids I see." She walked over, only to have Masaru instantly jump up onto his legs and run over the short small amount of space, hugging onto her. The normally quiet girl picked him up to give a hug, showing off how strong she was, by holding up the child with one arm under his legs, " It's good to see them getting use to people. And it calms me down immensely that you're getting along well. At first, I was a bit worried, but now I see why Kaede and Kaito talk so fondly of you Shuichi... I'm sorry I doubted you before" 

Jataro looked up and stared at Maki. " Can Shuichi keep visiting us? Monaca seems to like him!" He began to flail his sleeves around once more, his eyes looked pleading. 

Maki sat on a chair still holding the other child with a sigh, " Of course he can. Masaru, did you want any-" She quickly silenced herself as she looked down at the red-head, now asleep in her hold. " He runs around so much that he gets tuckered out before he notices it. Remind you of anyone?" She held onto him, relaxing as she held the sleeping child. 

Shuichi had chuckled slightly at the sight of sleeping Masaru, especially when she had made the connection to another hyper-active guy, they had both knew well. “ Yeah, he really does....” 

Kotoko then giggled, going over to Shuichi and practically tackling him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and yanking him back causing him to topple to the ground. But, Kotoko had avoided him easily. “ Miss Maki! Doesn’t he look really pretty? Like a girly girl!” 

Monaca rolled over towards the two, putting her hand on his hair with a grin on her face “ We should give him a makeover, with his hair so pretty like this all he needs is glitter and pigtails!” She giggled, using her other hand to cover up her mouth innocently. 

Jataro peered over with a smile as Maki watched the them make fun of Shuichi in a childish manner, " Maybe you guys should paint his nails. Can they Miss Maki? Please, please, please?!" He hopped up and down, making his backpack jingle about. 

The quiet girl was in a bit of a pickle as one kid was asleep on her and didn't know the detective that well yet, " Only if he allows it, remember, don't force anyone to do anything. Treat people how you want to be treated." With that she gave a small apologetic look to him. 

Nagisa was now tuning out of the conversation, " I guess I'll check up on Miss Hasegawa, she might need something or some help before we can ask to make the gingerbread houses. During which, we can put on a movie." The more mature child gave the two young adults a look of, ' I'd better help'. 

Shuichi looked at the look that Maki had given him, sighing softly and knowing that Maki... didn’t really know Shuichi’s thoughts on things yet. The two girls had looked up at the young adult with puppy dog eyes, their lips pouting out to make their faces look as cute and as sappy as possible. Shuichi have a reluctant smile, looking towards children “ Well... I-I guess you can... but nothing permanent, okay? So, no scissors or markers.” 

Kotoko squealed with delight, stomping her feet quickly on the ground as a way to vent her happiness. “ Yay! Miss Maki, Miss Maki he said we could!” Shuichi had then looked over at Nagisa as he spoke, giving him a small smile and a soft nod to show that he acknowledged his statement even though he seemed a little preoccupied with something else. Monaca was still glued to the idea of giving Shuichi a makeover. “ We’ll make him the prettiest girly-boy ever!” 

The rest of the three dragged the detective off to another room, setting him to a small children's chair ad a small plastic table of bright colors of pink and magenta. The odd masked kid had followed along, " Don't worry Mister Shuichi. They're really good at painting nails! Everyone is going to be so jelly! Hehe, I remember one of the 'Animal People' letting them practice on their nails, and taught them how to pull of all kinds of colors. Kotoko can even make them look like stars!" His eyes shined brightly, remembering the time as if it was a magical experience before waiting at the side to watch them. " I could never make anything pretty like that though, everything I touch gets all splotchy and nasty and gross." 

Shuichi blinked slightly when the children had dragged them into another room and tried to make himself slightly comfortable on the small children’s chair. Kotoko nodded happily when Jataro had complimented her nail skills “ Yeah! Yeah! I can make your nails super trendy and stuff like that!” Monaca then wheeled over to him, using a brush to brush out his hair “ I can make your hair super cute too!” 

Shuichi smiled, looking over towards Jataro, “ W-Well, I wouldn’t mind if you had helped them at all, Jataro.” He then continued on as the pink-haired girl started to drag all of her nail-painting stuff out of a drawer in the room. “ I’m going out with some people tonight, so you guys offered to make me look... pretty... at the perfect time actually...!” Jataro's dull eyes brighten up, gasping out, excited to actually be of any help. 

Once Masaru had awoken from his nap was around the time Shuichi's 'makeover-party' was finished. The red head had joined the rest of the children in the den with a festive movie playing while each started decorating and making their own gingerbread houses. Out of all of them, Jataro's looked the most professional, having him gain enthusiasm from helping the two girls made him hyped up to do some of his own creativity. Maki stopped the rough tumbling red head from licking his hands once or twice, giving him a small wet clothe and taking pictures of the small sugary homes. " I see they prettied you up, huh? It doesn't look half bad." She smiled, overlooking Shuichi. Soon, the elderly Hasegawa walked over with a basket of treats, setting them aside. " Maki, can you give these to Little Ouma later?" 

Maki held in a restrained groan," Yes ma'am, I'll be sure to stop at The Hanamaru Diner to give it to him..." Shuichi glanced at the old woman, waving at her. The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves, all huddling against each other while beginning to devour their gingerbread creations. Of course some of them began to pretend they were dinosaurs or monsters that would gobble up the people, having Shuichi nibble on one if he wanted to. 

Shuichi had a weary smile on his face when Maki had complimented how he looked before looking over at the elderly woman who had given her treats for...Ouma..? So, Kokichi? His thoughts were confirmed when Maki had mentioned the diner, turning towards the older woman and looking at her, “ Oh, ma’am, you know Kokichi...?” He inquired “ I’ve only just met him recently, and... I'm interested in becoming friends with him. Is there...anything you could tell me about him to help me get to know him better?” He asked, a soft smile on his face as he spoke. It turns out coming here was great in terms of information, having learned a lot about the gang, and now potentially Kokichi.... 

The dark haired girl near him silently and slowly turned her gaze to the navy haired boy, eyes going wide for a first from what Shuichi's witnessed. She didn't open her mouth, just fully captivated by what he had just said before her eyelids lowered back down to think on the matters. Miss Hasegawa looked up to the young boy and smiled warmly, " Ohh that's lovely dearie, he needs friends. Sure he has some where he lives but more is always better as I always say. It's rude to speak about someone with more than one person, so follow me and ask me anything you'd like to know about dear little Ouma, the poor thing." She said, acting older than she had let on, by waddling and hunching over to another room before sitting down a quilted up cushioned chair. 

Her sweet generous smile lowered once he sat by her, " You're a detective aren't you...? Don't try and lie to me sonny, I've heard it from dear Maki and Kaede." She gave a smile before a wistful sigh, " What does Haiji want with my boy now?" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes slightly when her demeanor changed and when he had stated that he was a detective. He looked down slightly, before bowing his head all the way, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner before I entered here...but I couldn’t just say it out in the open.” He then bit his lip slightly, avoiding eye contact “And Haiji.... he still wants Kokichi in custody with proof or not... I don’t know all that had happened, but I know there’s a lot more things that happened in their pasts that connected that not everyone seems to know. Extreme hatred for someone just doesn’t pop out of nowhere....” He clasped his hands together, taking in a deep breath before continuing, “ But...to tell you the truth, I don’t really know what to do with this case anymore. If Haiji is correct and he is what Haiji claims him to be.... I don’t think I could even turn him in. Sure, they’re breaking laws and such, and as a detective I have to put a stop to it. But as a person...they’re honestly done some good in this town, from what I’ve heard, that no one rarely sees. So... I would really appreciate it if you could tell me anything you know about Ouma. So I can help him... because it seems like he’s been through hell and back, and he shouldn’t have to go through it again.” 

The woman took off her large round glasses, wiping away some smudges with a clothe she had on her and wrinkled her already fairly wrinkly nose, " Well first sonny, I doubt he's in that petty gang. Sure, they're a bunch of a loose marbles, but I honestly don't know who they are. They haven't done anything to the children and I'm keeping it that way. Why? I might be foolish in my old times, but I think I can trust them. I'm not saying he is or he isn't with them, but I much rather not know, it'd be easier on me. If if you do want to help him for some reason and aren't doing this because it's your duty, I suppose I can tell a few things." She started to rock her chair a bit to get the momentum started, " It's much better for everything to come from the horse's mouth. You can't go off on anyone's words, trust me, I know much of that. Many have fooled this old woman in the day, taking advantage. It's not that I don't trust you. But, I've had my fair share dearie." She took in a long inhale, closing her eyes before putting the bottle-capped glasses back on, " Ouma came from a very broken family, abused, starved, the things a child questions why life just pain. Eventually word got around the neighbors, fearing the police, they drove off to escape any upcoming charges and dumped him off in the streets one winter in the night. They never came back to town. He lived here for a few years. He got adopted by a good friend of mine, but things happen and the greed of people change one's view on the world. He came back another person. He's still in there somewhere, fused with who he is now, protecting himself. Now why does he lie? I'm not sure. What happen? I could tell you, but I rather not. I have the right to remain silent dearie." She gave chuckle to him. 

Shuichi had listened very intently to the things that the woman did leak out to tell him about his background and such, finding that information pretty useful. He looked to be in serious thought, but the whole look was thrown off by the makeover he had gotten from the children. He smiled slightly when she had chuckled, looking up at her. “ Well, I completely understand. I do thank you for everything you’ve been able to tell me about him though and... I guess I’ll just have to become good friends with him, enough so that he can tell me the rest on his own....! Even though this whole becoming friends with him thing is seen as just investigating to my superior detectives... I really just want to get to know him. He’s a... really interesting character who seems like he has a story to tell.” He smiled nervously. “ So... I’d like to say he’s in good hands but... I’m not so sure yet how good of a friend I’ll be with him...” 

" Oh you'll get along with him just fine honey, he's become a very charismatic person over the years. Probably wants to feel human again, but simply can't grasp the concept that he grew to learn only for it to shatter when he needed it most. I'm not saying his actions he takes nowadays aren't his fault, they truly can be. And he should really know better but his personality has gotten too out of hand for himself I suppose. Anyways, thank you for spending time with the children. You've piqued Monaca's trust which is a very rare gift." She laughed a bit as she got out from her chair. " Oh by the way... I'm not the only one who knows his past, but if you get desperate, god forbid, you ask Haiji. I only know one side of the coin, that in the light, making him sound like an angel. But no one is perfect my dear." She gave her warm smile to him before walking out the way they came, sending some obvious elderly advice in a cryptic manner. Why did people always do that anyways? 

Shuichi had blinked slightly at her advice in such a cryptic manner, knowing he’d spend the next few hours trying to truly figure out what it had meant. He turned and watched her as she had walked out of the room the same way that they had came in, getting up as well after a few moment of being lost in thought and following her out of the room. He glanced around when he had exited the room, seeing what the time was. He hadn’t even thought of checking the clock once since he had arrived here.... he would most definitely be coming back again on his days off or maybe just claiming it would be a part of the investigation. He could also see why Maki seemed to enjoy working here so much. 

Right as he walked back into reality awaiting him was the woman he had just spoken to confronting Maki with the basket of goodies, insisting she go take them and wondering if Kokichi was doing okay or not. " I'm sure Kokichi is doing just fine ma'am." Maki reassured her, patting her wrinkled hands. Yes, he was curious about Kokichi's past but as he thought on it, a piece of a gingerbread man's arm hit his forehead. Again, some of the children apologized after just hitting their new guest, who they actually took a likening to. Maki reeled him back into reality a bit more by walking over and putting a and over his shoulder, " Heh, you okay there? You seemed pretty out there until they clocked you with a gingerbread." Maki couldn't help herself from chuckling lightly from the sudden interruption of cookies and foreheads. " Need some air to think or something?" She suggested, mostly wanting to know if he'd tag along n n errand. It wasn't that she didn't trust him being here alone, but moving about helped her sometimes. Maybe it'd help him from spacing out into the depths of his mind. 

Shuichi had walked out of the room, zoned out and barely listening to the conversation between the elderly woman and Maki until the gingerbread man arm had hit his forehead. He rubbed his forehead slightly, smiling softly when the kids had apologized to him. He then tensed up with Maki had put a hand on his shoulder, looking over and seeing it was her. He listened to her ask the question about getting fresh air, deciding that it might be best at the moment. “ Um, yeah, sure...!” He spoke, a flustered smile on his face. “ Are you going to deliver the baked good to Kokichi...?” He asked, interested. The quiet girl gave regretful look that lasted for a limited time before nodding and heading out the doors with him, grabbing her coat and putting it on. 

Once outside, Maki trudged through some of the snow along side him, holding the basket dearly, " You did great with them. We just need to deliver this and we can go back I still need to help Miss Hasegawa with some minor things. It makes me feel calm when they become happy with others given their backgrounds." Maki was finally opening up a bit to the detective, though she was using her job as a cover mostly, but none the less, was peeking out of her shell laced with an unemotional mask. " So, you're trying to befriend Kokichi? Interesting turn of events..." 

Shuichi had followed the dark haired girl out the door, having his coat on as well and sticking his hands into his pockets to try and keep them warm. He listened to Maki while they had walked, smiling softly when she had finally started to open up to him just a little more, even if it was about anything. It made Shuichi feel like... like he had done something really right. He then snapped out of his thoughts when Maki had questioned him making friends with Kokichi. He gave a nervous smile followed by a nervous chuckle “ Well... Yeah...!” He sighed softly “I don’t really know why but...he’s just kind of interesting to me, you know? And I feel like it would be a waste if I didn’t at least try to make friends with him.” He hiked his shoulders up from the cold as they walked, “ Actually... he wanted to invite us out for ice skating tonight... said a couple of roommates would come and that I was welcome to invite you guys. So, it’s up to you if you want to go or not but... it would be fun to have you there.” 

Maki sighed gently against the cold, letting a small bit of fog swirl in the air, " Ah... True he is interesting, but the thing is with that guy, is that he tests you. He constantly pokes at someone's weakness that he can find, if you don't give in, he likes you. If you do give in, well... You end up like most people around him that aren't fooled by his little parlor tricks. I'm not saying he's bad, but I have a gut feeling that he likes to get into your head, be it annoyance or charisma." She remained quiet after that comment as he mind whirled around the sudden invitation. " Hmm, that's rather odd of him, but as long as it's with his roommates then it should be fine. I'll have to let Kaede know later so she can tell Kaito before night work. It... would be good to get out of the house." She admitted with a slight blush, thinking on the opportunity before her eyes opened up.

However, once they were near the family diner, her face going cold stone, putting up her intimidating mask, the one Shuichi had seen ever since he met the girl. She pushed in the door for them and waved over to the cheery plump chef behind the counter in the back, " Hey Teruteru!" She called out quietly not to ruin anyone's lunch. 

Shuichi had listened to Maki, and had a smile on his face when the girl had seemed to be happy to get out of the house and go out. He was also happy that Maki had seemed to drop her ‘mask’ around him somewhat and hoped she would continue to do so. He then followed her into the familiar diner, glancing around slightly as Maki called for Teruteru. The small chef poked his head out of the kitchen window in curiosity, when was then replaced by a cheerful smile. “ Well, long time no see missy!” He called out, “ Haven’t seen ya’ in a quick second!” He then looked over to Shuichi, “ And look who’s back for their second time today! I must have ya’ hooked, huh? And walkin’ in all...prettied up no less!” 

Shuichi had a slightly embarrassed smile on his face, a blush creeping up his cheeks “U-Um...Yeah...!” 

If Maki were the one to joke around, she would have said something more slyly, but she was rather straight-forward to a degree as she only shook her head along with her dark hair with the faintest of smiles, " It's has been a bit Teruteru, it's good to see you." Her red eyes highlighted to Shuichi, taking a napkin and getting rid of some of the small smudges of makeup the children had applied onto him. " As for him, he's just a tagalong." She went over to the counter to chat with the plumped chef, " All I need is to deliver these to Ouma and it'd be rude if I don't ask how you're doing. Is your mother doing okay, as well?" She asked, setting down the basket. 

While the conversation muddled in the distance, something seemed off near the detective's area. A feeling of being watched... This was correct as someone near him giggled in a child-like manner, " Wow, Mister Detective is lazing about. I really thought you guys were always on your A-Game, but I guess I was wrong. Orrr, did you come by to see me again I wonder?" He put a finger to his lips, a sly smile hiding behind it, " Oooh, how scandalous~." 

Shuichi had felt like he was being watched for a minute or two before his suspicions were confirmed, hearing a familiar giggle coming from someone next to him. He turned his gaze to look at the purple-haired waiter, sighing softly with a slightly flustered blush on his face from Kokichi calling the situation ‘scandalous’. “ I... I’m just tagging along on an errand with Maki,” he started to say, trying to avoid telling him as much as possible about the whole investigation part. “ I went to the orphanage today to see what it was like and to meet the kids... because Maki seems to like it there so much.” He tried to explain, glancing off to the side and avoiding eye contact to try and hide the fact he wasn’t telling the whole truth. 

The purple devious imp squinted his eyes, catching the sight of the sudden avoidance of his eyes. His own eyes full of pure skepticism and interest, wondering why the small subtle secrecy from Shuichi. Before Kokichi could press him on it, the normally quiet and reserved girl dragged him back by shouting out, " Ouma!" Kokichi shook for a split second before turning around to give Maki a large smile, " Oh why hello there Maki-Roll~!" 

Maki's voice went into a dead panned tone with a glare further hinting him to not poke at her, " ... I told you not to call me that. Do you want to die?" 

" Depends on if you can keep a promise to follow through with that~." He said with a smug grin plastered on his face. 

Shuichi had blinked softly at the sudden threat that Maki had given Kokichi, knowing that she had disliked him but the threat still catching him off guard. He also didn’t let Kokichi’s slight shake for a split second go unnoticed, catching onto it quite quickly. He remembered it for something he might be able to bring up later. He then saw how the purple haired boy was metaphorically poking the proverbial red eyed bear, looking over at the two of them and throwing his hands up slightly, going between them only just slightly. He didn’t think he would be brave enough to actually stand in the middle of them... “ U-Um, let’s just calm down a bit...” He spoke, worriedly with an awkward smile on his face. 

" Oh come on Mister Detective, you know we don't mean it~! Or well... At least I don't." Kokichi said quietly, putting a hand to his mouth, having Maki continue the glare. But given the tone from the normally hospitable chef putting in his own word of not wanting any violence made the growling beast of the girl calm down, she merely sighed and unhanded the basket fully. 

Maki wrinkled her nose, " Whatever. Miss Hasegawa wanted you to have this. I'm sorry for disrupting the peace Teruteru." She said, keeping hold of any anger in her voice. Kokichi on the other hand looked to the basket and bizarrely enough skated back slightly, apprehensive in a way. " O-Oh..." For a split moment again, he broke character, his mask cracking ever so slightly. Maki apologized, " Oh right... Sorry Shuichi. Anyways, Miss Hasegawa still worries about you, and wanted me to know if you've been doing well. Have you been eating, sleeping properly?" 

The usual annoying purple haired boy quieted down for once, avoiding any eye sight from Maki. " Yeah, of course I have. She doesn't need to worry about me anymore. Just tell her I'm doing fine-and no that's not a lie." He slowly skated away and into the back room of the kitchen, leaving the basket on the counter. Awkwardly, everyone watched as the grape demon skate away, leaving a heavy feeling in the atmosphere. 

Shuichi had watched the sudden change in the boy’s demeanor when he had saw the basket that had been prepared for him and listened to his reaction. It was so...different than what he had gotten used to Kokichi acting like. He felt the heavy feeling in the atmosphere as the purple haired waiter skated away and to the back room in the kitchen. He didn’t know if it was the feeling in the air or if it was just the sight of Kokichi reacting to the basket in such a negative way... Shuichi turned to Maki, mumbling softly, “ Does... does he always act like that whenever you bring up Miss Hasegawa...?” He spoke to Maki, but was looking at the door that Kokichi had rolled into. 

Maki quietly bowed to the chef, " Please make sure he takes it home." She then walked out into the cold air with her some-what new friend. 

She let out a sigh and nodded, " Yeah. I'm fairly sure it's because either he's treated her like he has to everyone but still recalls how kind she is to him, feeling guilty or he doesn't like being a burden to her... I don't know much, but Miss Hasegawa sure talks about him a lot time from time. I could tell you what I know, but that's simply up to you, just like with the children. It is my job to know their backgrounds, much like you." She sighed while her feet crunched the snow from under her. " Considering you didn't ask about any of the kids, I see you're one of those people who don't enjoy wanting to pry open things. Then again you we're mainly concerned about D.I.C.E instead of the children." She was still hung up on that, though she wouldn't flat out say anything. 

Shuichi followed Maki outside of the diner, listening to her take on what had just happened and nodding along with what she had said. He then had listened to Maki’s thoughts about how he didn’t like to pry open things, which was true...if he didn’t have to pry into other people’s matters he wouldn’t. Because he knew that there were things that people liked to keep personal. But, the last part she added on about being mainly concerned about the gang rather than the children... It may have been true when he had first arrived at the orphanage, but that wasn’t exactly how he thought about it now. “ Well...” He spoke, a nervous tone in his voice, “ I’ll admit, at first I thought about it like that. That I was just there to investigate... but then, practically when I first got there they had told me what they knew without me really needing to ask anything, and... it sounds like D.I.C.E isn’t really doing anything to hurt the kids, quite the opposite actually... I got what I needed to know, but the kids were all just, amazing and seemed fun to be around. Believe it or not, I can somewhat understand what they must have gone through... so, I agreed to get myself ‘pretty’ and started to get used to the comments about me ‘having feminine hips’ because...they deemed me trustworthy. And from what I’ve heard, that’s really important for them. I felt pretty honored actually...” He smiled, a real happy genuine smile. “ So...honestly I’d love to visit more often, off duty.” 

The normally restrained girl covering up in a different type of mask than Kokichi hid behind gazed the crimson eyes to him, taking in his words. She stopped momentarily, leaning against a picket fence that neared the orphanage and stood there looking to him. It was hard to tell what exactly she was thinking with her emotionless lips, hard eyes, and stone like extorter. She then gave a soft smile as she closed her piercing eyes, " Heh... And here I thought you'd be like the others. God, how foolish of me to underestimate you. Sure Kaede and Kaito talked about you, but I still had my doubts, but... It seems like you really are the type of guy who I can handle being with... Nagisa must have been the one to tell you, he's very protective when it comes to D.I.C.E. He's smart but he tends to spill things due to how defensive he is. It's hard for them, in fact... I hate to say, but D.I.C.E. has helped get them out of their shells. Talking to them like humans and not just kids, objects, nothing, or mistakes." Her smile grew ever so slightly, " They don't trust often and for you to get along with them... Thank you Shuichi. You may visit any time you want." 

Shuichi had smiled brightly when Maki had let out a smile on her own, a slightly flattered blush on his face as he looked to the side when Maki had talked about how she would be able to get along with him in the near future. " Yeah, Nagisa was the one to tell me after Jotaro and Masaru had tried to see if I was a D.I.C.E member moments after first meeting me." He kept the smile on his face as they continued, " They brought me to Nagisa and he had explained basically everything to me, including how some of them had felt about how other adults seemed to treat them... and how you would beat me up if I had treated them the same way. And... thanks for inviting me back. I really appreciate it." 

She ceased her small rest for explaining herself, getting it off her chest to make way back to the humble abode of the kids and nodded along, " Sounds like them alright. They really want to meet the ones behind those masks but know they more than likely won't for identity sake much like super-heroes they hear about. And yes, they are actually quite terrified of adults. Took a while for me and Hasegawa to get them to act like how normal children should. Honestly at the start it was as if they were cornered animals that would have killed to survive. Never got that far though. But yes if I had heard one thing wrong, you'd have a broken arm, leg, rib, and several fingers." She morbidly teased him, though it did also come off as a warning. She took it to heart to protect them no matter what. She calmly closed her eyes to a half lidded state to take in the moment of silence before returning back to the Orphanage, where the five children awaited her and Shuichi both with warm welcomes. 

" Oh, welcome back dearies!" 

"Ah, Hello again, Miss Hasegawa." 

Shuichi had gulped slightly when Maki had teased him, knowing that the teasing could turn into a threat in a matter of seconds if he did something wrong. He then walked into the orphanage along side her, a nervous smile on his face as he stepped inside. His slight smile widened a little when the kids ran toward him and Maki, tackle-hugging their legs. He didn’t expect the kids to know they were back the minute they stepped in through the door though, so when they had ran up to them and tackle huffed his legs, Shuichi wasn’t prepared for it. He had almost toppled back onto the floor but had managed to regain his balance and composure just in time. He then looked down at them, giving them a big smile before looking up at Miss Hasegawa who had greeted them both when they had walked in. “ Hello,” He greeted politely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is fixed


	9. All Seem To Say, Throw Cares Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ICE SKATING BITCHES!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIXED THIS AND LAST CHAP! And by that, I mean more was added last chapter...

For the majority of the day, Shuichi got to help out and spend time with the children, Maki deeply thanking him in return. After which the two made it home before Kaito had to go to his nightly routine. Heeeey there's my two little sideki-Oof!" He let out coughing a bit after the girl in red elbowed him a bit harshly, commenting on her size. Though, he only smiled and bared through it, " Hehehe-Can't help but say it Maki-Roll!" 

She simply replied to him, walking to Kaede to give her some snacks leftover from the gingerbread massacre, " Right, well get ready because we're going out to the ice rink." 

" Ah, right, right-heeeey, wait, wait, wait a minute! What do ya' mean ice rink? Somethin' goin' on over there? Oh! Is Shuichi on a stake-out, ready to bust someone?" Kaito gave his large smile, chuckling like the big lovable dolt he was. " Sorry, didn't mean to pry. If it's on the down low, ya' don't hafta' tell me. Just curious is all." He said, getting up and going over to the sink to wash the plate. 

Maki put her pointer and index finger to her forehead, it seemed that her and Kaede forgot to tell him the word, but smirked seeing how his reactions were, " We're invited by Shuichi's new 'friend'." Kaito being... well the guy the navy haired male knew most, had it fly right over his head... Typical. 

Kaito put the dish and the utensils up, walking over to the couch and resting his elbows on the top of the soft cushion, hiding a smirk behind his hands that intertwined like he was planning something, " Oh? That so? You got a new friend huh?" He raised a purple brow, his grin further exceeding under the shadows of his hands. Maki glanced over, weaving her hand side to side to warn Shuichi not to tell who exactly this 'friend' was. 

Kaede had taken the baked goods that were left over from the orphanage and put them on a plate then proceeded to set them in the middle of the kitchen table. She then looked over at both Kaito and Maki, listening to the conversation they were having. When Kaito had asked about Shuichi’s new friend, she looked over and saw the look on Maki’s face and how she was trying to tell Shuichi not to tell Kaito too much about it. Kaede looked over at Shuichi, glancing towards Maki and nodding to try and explain that he should 100% trust her on this matter. Shuichi blinked slightly at the warnings from both the girls before looking back at Kaito with a nervous grin on his face, “ Ah, um, yeah...! I met them through one of my coworkers... th-they seem like a pretty nice person to be around...” He spoke, looking Kaito in the eye for the most part of glancing to the side periodically while he was talking. 

Kaito respected when people needed space and didn't pry at a name or anything. He gave a goofy grin, " Alright, be right back to change!" He dashed by Shuichi, getting ready and excited to go out with them. He tried to go out at least once a week besides work, 'does a body strong' according to him. Within not even a minute the cosmos loving male ran back to them with a heavier coat then his galaxy printed jacket, " Alright! I'm so ready for thi-" 

" Did you take your medication? I don't want to drag you off to rest again." 

" Maaaaaki-Roll, trust me would ya'?" The trainee whined out to the lady in red. The only response was a hardened stare, " Ohhhh c'moooon! It's nasty as hell and I dun' need i-" 

Maki's piercing gaze rose to his eyes, " Do you want to die?" With that Kaito's ego deflated like a balloon as he slowly complied to the dark haired girl. 

Shuichi was slightly relieved then Kaito didn’t ask further for a name of his friend, judging from the reactions of the girls that it was better this way. When Maki was hassling Kaito about taking his medication, Kaede had gotten on a big puffy coat to go over her sweater to make sure she would keep warm outside. She also took out her phone and ran her fingers through her hair, looking at her reflection to make sure she looked okay. Shuichi had a small smile on his face when Maki had scolded Kaito yet again when he complained about taking his medicine. Shuichi then thought about what their experience might be like for the night, what the place would look like, how everyone might... interact. He then blinked slightly, realizing that he hadn’t been given any details besides meet there during the evening... like where there they were meeting, or what exact time they were supposed to be there. He was stressed about little details in plans a lot of the time, so he was a little on edge. 

Kaede noticed this, putting her phone in her pocket and going over to Shuichi with a smile on her face. “You look so worried, Shuichi! Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be alright and we’ll have a good time tonight!” She put a hand on his shoulder softly, “ Everyone needs a break once in a while, right?” She commented referring to the, what seemed like a non-stop, investigation practically since the moment he got to the town. 

Shuichi took solace in Kaede’s words, sighing softly and relaxing before nodding. “ Yeah...” he then let out a small awkward smile “ Thanks.” 

Once at the mall, the small group passed by several stores all decorated with many different and varieties of festive ornaments. Some from different religions and nationality, basically a big melting pot. Kaito had been telling the other three some humorous stories from his work, entertaining them. That was until his eyes ran over something in the distance, making him stop in his tracks. Nearby the ice rink was Saionji, Rantaro, and three other people along with one more with purple hued hair. " Ahh, shit... Ouma is here..." Maki squinted toward the direction that Kaito had been looking at. 

She indeed saw the purple haired imp, but made no negative remark about it whatsoever, trying to help her new roommate out, " Don't worry about it. He's not... That bad." Her lips twitched as she held herself to her statement. 

Kaito folded his arms in a bit of distaste, " Ehh, not sure about that. I mean, he's a lil' lying, manipulative, little pest who gets his jollies from tricking people." Maki sighed knowing Kaito was right, but also not wanting to deal with it all for the moment. That was when the calm moment went from awkward to.... Well, a worse situation. As of that moment, a red headed male pointed over to the group, making the little imp himself look over the shoulder and show off his wide grin. " Oh god, he's spotted us!" 

He waved and called out happily, " Heeeeey! Mister Detectiiiiive~!" 

Kaito's sudden tense moment of being caught was lowered down as he slowly looked to his shy friend, " ... What?" 

Shuichi’s bundle of nerves kept growing and growing every time Kaito had added another word to his sentences about the small purple haired boy that had invited all of them out in the first place. This also meant his anxiety about the whole situation was rising and rising as well, somehow knowing from having to dodge the subject around Kaito in the first place that the meeting of the two groups wouldn’t go... well. He had appreciated the attempts that Maki had made to try and tone down Kaito’s attitude towards Kokichi. He’d have to remind himself to thank her later. Once Kaito had looked over towards Shuichi after Kokichi had called out towards him, the detective thought it was all over. He tried to avoid eye contact with Kaito, not wanting to see the look on his face. He then took a deep breath, stabilizing his emotions the best that he could. He then looked at Kokichi, an awkward smile on his face as he waved and started to walk over towards the group that was waiting for them, out of earshot for the other three he had came with. Kaede looked over at Kaito, a small and gentle on her face as she looked up at the purple-haired trainee. “ Hey,” She spoke quietly, as to completely make sure Shuichi couldn’t hear “ At least he’s getting out there and making new friends, right...? I know you don’t like him but... Shuichi seems to be getting along with him, and you know how much our, his long-time friends, approval of things means to him, right? So let’s just... take it in stride? Okay?” 

The taller purple haired male put up a finger to say something against the blonde but slowly crumpled it and shut his mouth from opening, looking guilty as she mentioned that Shuichi was actually out and trying to interact with people instead of hiding in his shell of a hat. Kaito had been so busy in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed the hat was gone for more than a day. He clenched his teeth and turned his hand into a fist, beating himself up mentally for a quick moment before nodding to the pianist. Maki calmly placed a hand onto her forehead, dragging it down slowly, but remaining quiet as she always was. Kokichi ran over with such a wide smile, showing his mischievousness and coyness wrapped all into one, " I'm so glad you made it~! Hey Kadea, Maki... Spaceman." 

Kaito took a deep inhale and gritted his teeth a bit more, " Hi ya' lil' Panta Imp." 

" Aww, you remembered my nick-name~! Anywhooo, yes, I invited Shuichi and you guys to skate along with me and some of my roomies!" 

Kaito shook his head dismissively but what soon slapped on the back of the head by Maki, " Ah! Ok-Okay! I'll behave, I'll behave." 

" Nishishi~! Hey Kadea~! Oooh, your nails look shiny as ever! I think you should go show Rantaro, he'll be impressed after you took his advice." He giggled, leading them over to his group who greeted them. " Shuichi this is, Yuta, Leon, and Komadea, apparently you two have met while he had a break one day." 

" Sup." Leon nodded as Saionji stayed close holding his hand like a small child so she wouldn't get lost. " Nice to meet ya' dude." He gave a smirk to Kaito who chuckled under his breath, apparently the two had done something together in the past. Probably something stupid no doubt. 

Komaeda grinned when he was introduced, nodding to affirm Kokichi’s statement. “ Yep, nice to see the detective that works with Hajime again.” 

Shuichi had looked at the people that Kokichi had introduced to him and the people he had met previously through other incidents, smiling slightly, “ It’s nice to meet you guys, even though it’s been said before, my name’s Sh-Shuichi,” He spoke slightly quieter than he normally would, not really used to being in a big group of people like this and interacting without something to hide behind... he would just have to get used to it, he supposed. 

Kaede had took Shuichi’s advice, walking over to Rantaro with a smile on her face. Before saying anything, she had stuck her nails out in front of Rantaro with a proud smile on her face. “ It worked!” She exclaimed “ The skinny tape you gave me to help make a stripe pattern had no faults at all!” She looked past her hands, up at Rantaro with her face beaming from how happy she was to show off her nails to the green haired boy. 

Rantaro had looked at Kaede’s nails with a smile on his face, happy to see that she was so happy about them. “ They look good, nice job.” He spoke, grabbing her hands slightly to get a closer look at them. 

Kaede couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered by the grabbing of her hands, a light blush covering the top of her cheeks as she spoke “ Thanks!” Kaito gave off a warm smile, seeing how gleeful Kaede was around the avocado. In fact it made him build up some courage to lean against Maki's shoulder as if saying, ' aww, look at her go'. 

The small boy aside from Kokichi who was highly energetic, Yuta, stuck out his hand with a smile of his own, meaning for Shuichi to take it for a handshake. " Hey, I'm Yuta, it's nice to meet you!" He then got out a pen and started to scribble on his own hand. The tall astronaut in training raised a brow, " Oh right! It's easier to remember a name if you write it down three times! So how have you guys been?!" 

Kaito's resentment seemed to slowly simmer down as the others greeted them all, shaking his head from the young boy's statement. " Yeah, we been doing-..." His face crunched into a glare at no one in particular, more of his mind wrapping around what he just said and being angry with himself instead, still not use to being near the aura of the trickster. 

Maki thankfully stepped in to recover the trainee's fault, " We're doing fine. It's pleasant to see you all again. How has it been over there?" 

Leon grabbed Shuichi's hand and shook it as he responded back to the crimson eyed girl, " Ah, it's been fine. You know, same old, same old and all of that." Saionji took the opportunity to gracefully discuss that it sucked instead, instantly being shushed by the red head. All the while Kokichi brandished a heartfelt smile, one that wasn't a smirk, grin, or sneer which was strange in the detective's eyes. 

Shuichi had taken Yuta’s hand, slightly taken aback from his cheerfully personality all of a sudden and from how he had written on his hand to try and remember his name. He also noticed how Kaito had cut off his reply, feeling slightly guilty for dragging him into all of this... but he was thankful that Maki had stepped in for him and continue his sentence. He then shook Leon’s hand, shaking it as he replied to Maki. While Saoinji then was replying to them, Shuichi had taken the time through all of the chaos to look over towards Kokichi and had noticed his smile. He was kind of shocked to find no hint of smirking or sneering, just a genuine smile. Seeing this side of Kokichi had managed to calm his nerves just a little, not being able to help but stare slightly with a soft smile of his own on his face. It might have been strange, but it was a good kind of strange. 

Saionji at this point spoke up like an unwanted Pomeranian, " Hey are we gonna' skate or just chat about how much life is strange?!" 

Kokichi jumped up with excitement coursing through his body, " Yeah-Ah-Ffffff!" Once he landed back down from the small hop he held his leg and cursed to himself as Saionji sneered a comment of being careful. " S-shush it, you little rat." This only made the small blonde giggle out before going to get her skates, accompanied by Yuta, Kaito, and Maki. " I'm fine, okay let's go~!" His cheerfulness quickly resurfaced back. 

Before Shuichi or Kaede could ask if he was okay, Leon scratched the back of his neck, "Don't worry about Kokichi. He and me were roughhousing around the apartments and Kokichi sort of banged his leg against the table. He can still skate though, so no need for interjections." 

Kokichi chuckled, no nervousness setting in tone, " Nishishi, it was really funny though you have to admit! I took one of his baseballs and played with it, and well, you know that stupid saying of 'boys will be boys'." He gave a toothy smile as he rubbed his leg's injury. After that he stood up proudly and took Kadae and Shuichi by the hands, " C'mon, c'mon, lets go already~! Forget the small stuff and lets have some fun." For a constant liar as Hajime put it, Maki was right... he was oddly charismatic. 

Shuichi had listened to the story that Leon and Kokichi had told about them roughhousing, taking it as fact for the moment. He snapped out of his thoughts when Kokichi had grabbed onto his hand, jumping slightly from the sudden contact and looking towards him. His enthusiasm was slightly infectious, making Shuichi smile slightly and nod. Kaede blinked slightly when she had suddenly been grabbed onto by Kokichi, completely forgetting about Kokichi’s injury altogether as he managed to change the subject. Rantaro saw Kokichi pull Kaede by the hand, grabbing her other hand and pulling her slightly away from Kokichi then looking at the purple haired boy with a disapproving look. “ Hey, don’t just randomly grab people like that, Kokichi.” He spoke, though he didn’t pull Shuichi away from him, just Kaede. 

He whined out, " Meeeeh, I'm just trying to get them over to the riiiink!" He let go, sticking his tongue out at his brotherly figure of a friend.

Soon the rest of the group followed in suit, cheerfully chatting among themselves as they went to go rent some ice skates by the nearby shop that stored them. Out on the nearly glass looking rink of the mall glittered from the lights and ornaments strewn about, making it rather beautiful in a way. The older purple haired male was skating besides the girl in a crimson coat... Who kept flopping over like a dead fish at some point, not knowing fully well how to skate. Others like Saionji skated alongside Yuta, trying to race each other, while the rest took their time by chatting with one another. Kokichi however waited until Shuichi stepped out onto the marbled ice, again wanting to know him like the detective had told his friend. " C'mon you're almost there!" he snickered out. 

Shuichi had sighed softly when Kokichi snickered at him, slowly making his way into the ice with hesitancy in his step. One foot after the other, he had put his feet onto he ice and held onto the side of the rink to support himself. He had an embarrassed look on his face as he looked over towards the purple haired boy “ Th... This might be a good time to say that I... d-don’t really know how to skate very well.” He kept leaning against the wall while he steadied himself on the ice, pretty reluctant to move anywhere. 

The purple haired boy couldn't help but try and hide a snicker from the sudden tinge of scarlet spreading across the detective's face. He moved his hand away from his mouth, hiding away the smile of laughter and morph into a softer one as they approached him. " Nishishi, haven't skated in a bit huh? I mean, you'll never catch up to me, since I'm off to skate away..." He said slowly skating from the detective before coming back, " But that's a lie, it's okay, I'm not going to leave you behind Mister Detective." All the while, they caught a glimpse of Kaede had oh so gracefully completed a figure eight around them accompanied by Rantaro doing a triple Axel. Kokichi clapped at the quick and wondrous performances, whistling alongside it, " Niiice! Very nice there! Bravo!" His attention hovered back to the male standing his ground on the ice. A sly smirk slipped across Kokichi's lips and suddenly grabbed both of Shuichi's hands, skating backwards slowly, pulling him along, " Weeeell, maybe I can help you out a bit more then!" 

Kaede and Rantaro had looked over at Kokichi as he clapped at their performances, getting them distracted from where they were on the ice. They had eventually bumped into one another, Kaede not quick to react and almost tumbling down. Rantaro had quick instincts though, catching Kaede in his arms and pulling her close. Both of them had froze slightly, looking up to each other. 

The ever so pessimistic tiny blonde drifted by the two, " Hetro!" And... There you go, Saionji everybody... 

The dark toned male who she had raced along with caught up to her and snatched her, holding her up as he slid away reenacting the beginning of The Lion Prince, " IT'S TH CIIIIIRCLE OF LIFE~!" Yuta sang out.

Only to have Saionji to flail about like an angry pissed off cat, " AHHH! PUT ME DOWN YOU ASSHOLE!

But, Shuichi had noticed as he was slightly nervous about being pulled off of the security of the wall of the rink by Kokichi. He widened his eyes when he started to move, subconsciously grabbing onto Kokichi’s hands to steady himself. “ A-Ah, Okay...!” He spoke rather loudly, pretty nervous. 

Kokichi finally let go of one of the hands gently as Shuichi tried skating along with him, but still held onto the other, making sure he was able to go at a slow and peaceful pace. As the slightly younger male led the other around near the walls, he came over to the others, rolling his eyes from the snow white haired boy not yet even joining the rink to skate into, more than likely telling himself that such trash as him shouldn't deserve to skate around and have fun. " Komadea, you'll be fine. You need to reeeelax. I promise, it'll be fine." With that being said, he passed by them still holding the detective's hand carefully. 

Komaeda was leaning against the wall on the outside of the rink, watching everyone when Kokichi had stopped by. He looked over at the small boy, sighing. “ If I stay off the ice though, everyone much more talented than me will surely have a good time while I sit here in slight despair....” He looked off to the side, remaining where he was for a few seconds, mumbling to himself, “ Who would even want to skate with someone as pathetic as me?” Classic Komaeda. 

" Komaeda, you will get on this ice! Rantaaaaaro! Komaeda's being a bitch again!" Kokichi hollered out, thankfully Leon skated over to grab the pale boy by the arm, arguing with him here and there before the small purple panta imp skated away again with Shuichi, still in his grasp. Komaeda had argued with Leon when he had been forced to try and get on the ice, not liking the idea very much. 

Shuichi was a little wobbly when Kokichi had let go of his hands, still a little nervous as he staked across the ice. He was still thankful that the purple haired boy was holding onto his hand, thinking that he probably wouldn’t be able to go at the pace he was going without him. He was a bit wobbly, but he was still doing better than he had been doing. That’s for sure. 

With that happening, Kaito nearly slid into the poor pale male but instead had fall flat on his ass and slid slowly away like a hockey puck with Maki skating after him to help him up from the cold ground. Kokichi laughed out a bit, but not in a malicious way, just enjoying what had happened, and besides that the trainee was perfectly fine just more shocked he tripped up so badly. Shuichi had been concerned when Kaito had slipped, but saw that Maki as already on it, which eased his nerves. So, he kept skating with Kokichi, listening to his reaction to everything, something warming in his chest when he had heard a genuine laugh coming out of the purple haired boy. It maybe threw him off, just a little. " Hey, so I wanted to ask you. What do you enjoy exactly? Or where your from, or family. You know the usual thing like that, or maybe how you made such good friends?" He didn't seem to be nosy this time around, just curious in nature. 

So when Kokichi asked more about him, Shuichi was a little off guard. “ Well, um...” He started to speak, glancing off to the side, not used to talking about himself that often “I guess, I like reading mystery novels in my spare time... as for my family, I don’t have a lot of it really... and I ... g-guess I was just lucky that I made such good friends?” He spoke, slightly embarrassed by his lacking answers. 

" Sorry about your family, not being there for you, heh. I know how that feels. But having good friends, that is a very lucky and special thing to keep hold of..." His usual perky smile faded to a thin line across his face, " Eh, might as well tell you a thing or two. It'd be rude if I didn't." He went silent and that went on for a while as the detective looked to get worried, only to have the purple haired boy giggle, " Whoops, there I go lying again! Nishishi, I just wanted to see if you were curious. Anyways, I never knew my real parents, but someone finally adopted me out after a while. Hard to believe I was skittish and shy, more so than you are. But one day, she went away and I had to leave home. Eventually Rantaro." He pointed to the green haired male, " Found me. He was my friend back at school, so he kinda' took me in. He's like a big brother to me I guess." 

Shuichi had patiently waited for Kokichi to tell him more about his past, genuinely wanting to know more about it. He internally sighed softly when Kokichi lied, knowing it might happen in the back of his mind but not fully expecting it. Regardless, he listened to Kokichi talk about his family and home life when he was a child, nodding softly at the end of it to show that he was listening to Kokichi. He then smiled slightly “ You are right...I think it might be ha-hard for me to imagine you as more shy than I am... Since now you’re so talkative and social...”

The slightly smaller boy snickered out, " Nishishi~! You really believed that?! I could have been easily lying! But I can tell you care, or you wouldn't mention much or just pass it off as another lie however. Whenever I tell someone that, they don't believe me." The gentle grip tightened very lightly. " You're one of the few who haven't dismissed it. Well one of the few. But then again, all of that could have been a lie-buuuuuut, I'll leave that to you if you want to trust me or not." Kokichi paused for a moment, taking in the small pause. " But... Heh, thanks for believing it anyways..." He couldn't really find any other words to comply with, when it came to compliments from people who weren't part of D.I.C.E, he wasn't able to think of any words. Yet another slight reason he lied and tricked people. It was easier for people to hate him instead. His mind reeled around until he caught something he could comment on. " You know, you sure are a bit bolder than most people are with me. Normally they just shrug me off and ignore me, but you seem interested... Nishishi, it's kind of cute." He gave a twinkle eyed look to him with a smirk, expecting the other's reaction and attention to drink up.

Shuichi had listened to Kokichi, not completely buying the story he had just told him was a fake... it seemed to genuine on his face to be a lie... but he didn’t exactly know Kokichi that well either. The moment that Kokichi had said the last part of his little speech, it rang in Shuichi’s head over and over again. ‘It’s kind of cute’, ‘it’s kind of cute’. This immediately embarrassed him, his face heating up to a blush as he stood there on the ice and reaching up for his hat only to remember it wasn’t there. Which made him even more embarrassed. “ A-Ah...!” He spoke, trying to come back with something, anything, to make it seem like he didn’t totally loose it from that statement “ U-Um...! Th... th-thanks...?”

The smaller male's smile spread into the ever devious grin as his eyes glazed over the sudden brush of red now heating his face, only for it to grow more as the cap that would hide him was no longer present." Nishishi, oh, and now you're stuttering too~! That's even cuter!" The purple imp kept his grin out and about to show it off. Even without the hat the gremlin was still able to poke holes around the detective. He had just gotten rid of the more than obvious thing was all and started to peck and pick at the ones hiding beneath. Shuichi had widened his eyes when the purple haired boy had called him cute yet again, seeing the big grin on his face from teasing him. He had the bright red blush remaining on his face as he stood there, trying to cover up his fave with his hands in embarrassment because he had nothing else to hide behind. He closed his eyes slightly, thinking maybe if he couldn’t see anything the embarrassment would go away... wasn’t a very logical assumption at all.

Kaito was now skating with his blonde pianist of a friend, letting Maki finally skate around freely for a while, he looked over to the other two and tilted his head, " Not sure what to think of this."

Kaede looked over at the scene unfurling before the two of them inspecting it for a moment before looking towards Kaito. “ Well... I think it’s good that he’s meeting new people. And it’s not exactly like he’s getting annoyed by him, like most people we know do, right? It’s more... flustered. Which may be a good thing? I dunno. What are all of your thoughts about the whole thing? And be honest.”

The tall purple haired male rubbed the back of his neck as went to the outskirt of the rink and pushed his elbows onto the short walls that kept people in the icy ring like sheep, " Well yeah, I mean yeah I guess it's good but I'm just sayin' is all-" He gave out a defeated sigh, " I don't want 'em gettin' hurt and that lil' munchkin is written with trouble all over him. I'm not tryin' to judge but, i-it's hard to trust that type of guy. He's always scheming with that face." Kaito closed his eyes trying to regain his poor composure.

Kaede followed Kaito to the side of the rink, listening to his thought about the matter. “ Yeah... I have to admit he could have made friends with someone who wasn’t so... complicated. But the heart wants what the heart wants I guess.” She gave Kaito a small and weary smile. “ But if anything happens, we’ll be there to protect him, right?”

Kokichi slowed down his skating, " Anyways jokes aside, this is nice, and hope you feel a bit better Mister Detective." His eyes suddenly darted side to side, slowly putting a hand into his coat's pocket. " But... I also wanted to give you and discuss something. It arrived under my door one day with a bunch of weirdos with masks surrounding my window. They told me to be a messenger and send it to only you. No one can know about it or they might do something to my roommates." He took out a small piece of paper, handing it to him. Shuichi had snapped out of his embarrassment when Kokichi had suddenly gotten serious-seeming. He had listened to the story of the masked people at his window, and the note they had given him. Could it be D.I.C.E...? He had taken the note from Kokichi with curiosity, all traces of embarrassment gone as he went into a detective-like mode when he looked over the note. Kokichi looked over to watch Kaito giving him a quick look and glare to follow suit, " Nishishi, Man your friends are hilarious~." He said in such a laid back manner. The note smelled of gasoline-definitely from the notorious gang... It read out in... crayon? Odd choice, but besides that, it read the following, ' Go 2 the covenant store near Roshi street and Lin-Square 2-knight at Mid. Come alone and tell no one. I may have something THEY might want. Willing to risk coming over Detective?' It was messily written out, almost chicken scratch, but legible enough. It was an odd request, and it cold be dangerous, but then again, D.I.C.E hadn't harmed anyone, only fooled them into thinking they would. 

Shuichi was barely able to make out what the note was telling him to do, noting the familiar scent of gasoline that laced the piece of paper. Everything else was background noise at the moment, including Kokichi’s comment about his friends as he tried to analyze the note in a hyper-focused mode. What could they have gotten that was important? And who was ‘they’? It was all incredibly confusing, and the meet-up was probably going to be risky and dangerous... but he would have to do it. But, how did Kokichi get this note in the first place? If anything, the gang would have figured out a way to get it to him that didn’t involve other people... involving other people might make them traceable... he shook the thoughts he knew were going to appear out of his head before he could think about them. He needed to stop approaching things like Kokichi was a member of D.I.C.E. Just then a small hand was waved in front of him, dragging him out of his analytical and deciphering mode, " I know it's important, ya' know, with you being a detective and all, but just so you know." He looked around and whispered, looking quite worried, maybe even scared, " Those guys told me they didn't want to wait for you to find them or them coming to you. I think it might have been for insurance sakes." With a slight shiver going up his body his face went back to his casual smile as he reassured the other, " Just try not to think on it too much okay? That's how I deal with things, nishishi~. Well, this was fun. I'm glad you actually came, heh, I was actually getting a bit nervous. Imagine me, getting nervous over something so little~! What a silly thought. I hope you had a good time Shuichi." For once the little imp called him by his real name instead of the nick-name he was suddenly donned upon. However, at this point Kokichi had let go of his hand and skated away leaving the detective to fend for himself by trying not to slip on the glossy ice below him.

Shuichi blinked out of his thoughts when the smaller boy had waved a hand in front of his face, looking towards him. He then noticed that he was called by his real name, not by ‘detective’ or something of the like. It made him feel like he was getting closer to Kokichi, maybe just a little bit. He was about to reply back, but that’s when Kokichi had let go of his hand and left him to fend for himself on the ice. He widened his eyes, feeling his balance waiver just at the thought of falling down onto the cold. “ H-Hey...!” He stammered out scolding, “ K-Kokichi...!”

The other only spun, sticking his tongue out at him along with pulling an eye lid down to tease him further. Leon laughed, beginning to skate over, helping the stranded detective get out of the metaphorical icy ocean, " Welp, been fun, but we've gotta' split! Saionji gets cranky if we don't read her a story before bed. And if she doesn't go to bed, she'll get groggy."

Saionji somehow heard him as she went by, " I do not-" She caught herself off guard by yawning, panning her hand to her mouth to hold it in, then muttered as she wiped her bright large eyes, tiredly slowing down to a near stop so Yuta could come by and pick her up with some relative ease. Those who remained in the rink skated out, quickly removing their skates. Komaeda, who had been practically doing nothing the entire time, had offered to take everyone's skates back to the shack. As much as everyone protested against it, the ivory haired male took them all anyways, Yuta following behind and picked the skates that the older male would accidentally drop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... Everything is fixed now...


	10. Dance With Me, Come Dance With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does the D.I.C.E. leader want now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was going to have the entirety of what happens in the covenant store, but it'd be too long... I gotta' expand this fic! Why? 'Cuz I love lots of chapters that are at the very least 5000 words or just a bit higher.

As the two groups congregated until outside where they would divide Kaito sighed out, " Well, hate to admit this, but... Thanks for inviting us out Kokichi." 

Kokichi however looked over with a sneer spread across his face, " Tch, I didn't invite 'you', I invited Shuichi. You just tagged along like a little puppy~." 

" H-Hey, hey, hey! Knock that shit off, I was giving you a compliment ya' little imp!" This in turn only made Kokichi and Saionji cackle like crazy as Kaito blushed from the sheer mild harassment. 

Maki sighed, silently pinching the top ridge of her nose, almost in sync with the green haired male. " So, you're saying he's a bitch?" Saionji asked, further making the two laugh, and Kaito give a frustrated growl. 

Rantaro had sighed and grabbed the back of Kokichi and Saoinji’s collars like they were puppies, starting to drag them away from the other group. “ Come on you guys, that’s enough for one day, yeah?” He spoke, dragging them off. The two back and forth 'pups' yelled out a bit but settled down inevitably in the green's hands before spitting thank you like insults to one another. Shuichi watched as the two had gotten dragged off by the green haired boy, waving a little as a form of goodbye and a smile on his face to show that he did have a good time with them. 

Kaede waved towards them enthusiastically “Bye you guys! It was fun!” She exclaimed, trying to get them away for now before Kaito had did something irrational as a reaction to being embarrassed. 

The red eyed girl gave a sigh, letting a soft fog exit near her mouth as she went to go help the poor avocado. Both Leon and Yuta had been checking their cellphones getting some brief warnings on the weather. The fiery red head called out, " We might wanna' hurry up guys, small snow storm is a brewing. Won't be long till it hits." 

Yuta nodded, a slight frown was plastered on to his lips. " Leon's right, we should all hurry if we want to miss the storm." He shivered slightly as snow began to descend a little harder than usual. 

Saionji squeaked from the sudden gust of cold breeze and clung onto Rantaro, Kaito scoffed, " So much for being lil' miss tough... Alright, see ya guys later. And uh, you too ya' lil' gremlin." Saionji glared as she shook like a wet cat. 

Kokichi among the midst simply gave his wide grin and a wave, " See ya guys~! Hope we can do this again sometime!" 

Shuichi cuddled into his coat slightly and looked towards Kokichi with a soft smile, waving still, “ See you later...!” He shouted softly towards them. Komaeda has waved goodbye to the group as well, then looked towards Saoinji shivering form the snow. He quickly took off his coat, handing it to her as an offering. “ You deserve to stay warm in the cold more than me, so here!”. Rantaro had waved at the other group using his arm that wasn’t holding onto Saionji, a small smile on his face. He then looked towards the blonde pianist, waving slightly at her with a bigger smile. Kaede had waved again towards the green haired boy with a bright smile on her face, bunching up in her coat from the sudden snowfall. She then turned around and began to leave, speed walking to try and avoid being caught in the storm for longer than was needed. Also to hide the small tint of red on her cheeks that she could have pulled off as just caused by the cold weather. 

Kaito couldn't help but notice the suave green bean and the blonde wave and smile to each other. He cracked a smirk but kept his mouth shut as he got in the car, " Hate to say it, but... That was nice." 

Once in the car, Maki blew into her gloved hands and rubbed them together, " Brrr, alright, let's get a move on. Thankfully home isn't too far-also no fighting in the back-" 

She stopped hearing as Kaito broke into a coughing fit. Her initial glare looked back, " What did I tell you about your medication." 

" E-Ehehe... I-It's just the cold, I promise, you know that." he sniffled, rubbing the back of his hand by his nose. 

The dark haired girl glanced once again in concern, " Are you sure?" As much as she really did want to believe her friend, Kaito was also known to ditch his needed medications from time to time, so the doubts were rather understandable. 

Kaede had looked back towards Kaito as he started his coughing fit, highly doubting that a big cough like that was just from the cold. She sighed slightly, starting the car so it would get warmer. “ Well, there’s nothing we can really do about it now, if he took his medicine or not... let’s just focus on getting home and we’ll deal with it there.” She then put the car into drive and started to head back to their place as quick as she could while being safe so they could get out of the storm. Shuichi looked over at Kaito, worried. He hadn’t really seen what Kaito’s illness could do to him, but he didn’t really want to experience it first hand anytime soon. He looked over at Kaito with a worried look, hoping it was just the cold... but he highly doubted it. 

Kaito sneezed and shivered harshly when they exited the car, looking up to the sky to see larger chunks of snow fluttered down onto the snow littered ground. " Hopefully it doesn't get any worse or we'd be blocked in for about a half a day or so. Feel sorry for anyone having to walk out in this mess." He watched the sky worried a bit, but also disappointed as the snow would take over the space of the night's stars due to the town's size. Maki escorted them in and eventually dragged the trainee in, telling him no time for stars as well as letting him know to bring some blankets to watch over the museum for the night... Or rather him to stay home at this point. 

" Is anyone hungry? I can make dinner." Maki asked, removing her dark and deep red coat, hanging it on the coat hanger nearby. The girls removed her boots next, setting them down on the plush mat beside their couch. 

Shuichi had went to take his heavy coat off when he had gotten into the house, checking his pockets before he had taken it off. He widened his eyes slightly when he felt the note he had gotten from the purple haired boy, remembering what he had to do that night. Storm or not, it was something he had to do... this might be a breakthrough moment for all he knew. And he didn’t think D.I.C.E would let the weather stop them either. Shuichi looked over towards the dark haired girl, a small smile on his face, “ I-I’ll probably head to bed early, actually...” He spoke softly, “ Thanks for the offer though...!” Kaede looked towards the detective with a raised brow, questioning his actions for a plot second but then writing them off as normal. 

His friend huffed, the purple haired male, lightly glaring at him. " Shuichi, you know skipping out on meals is not good for you.", His tone sounded like that of a father scolding his child. He however did let it slide, " Actually, know what, I ain't startin' this again. I'm sorry but I remember how ya' could be in the past, and well for one, we worry about ya'." 

Shuichi looked over at Kaito while he was being scolded, feeling slightly guilty that Kaito had to remind him that he shouldn’t be skipping meals in the first place... but, he smiled softly and nodded, “ Y... Yeah, I’ll give it some thought. Thanks, Kaito.” He spoke kindly. 

Kaede walked over towards Shuichi, a smile on her face, “ You know that we’ll always be here for you, Shuichi. And we worry, so we’ll keep reminding you even if it gets annoying.” She chuckled softly. 

Shuichi smiled at her comment, nodding, “ T-Thanks for worrying. I don’t think it’ll ever get annoying, though.” With that, he headed to the hallway. 

" Was there a problem?" Maki asked, not terribly pressing, but just for curiosity sake. 

" Ehh, sorry Maki-Roll, but we promised not to bring that stuff up to other people, only me and Kaede." He shrugged a bit, going into the kitchen himself to help her make up supper. " If he doesn't wanna' eat, I won't force 'em. But just give it some thought okay." He requested it to the detective. The dark haired girl only merely nodded and went along to help as well, quietly as she tended to be. 

The red eyed girl nodded in acknowledgment, " True... Unlike him." She pointed a thumb over to the other male, making him get an exasperated face. 

" H-Hey! I don't find it annoyin'! I-I just uhh... Uhhh... Shit." He cursed a bit as he had backed himself into a corner letting the girl grow a smirk, knowing far too well that he couldn't argue against her reasoning. Once the shy detective scurried off upstairs the girl looked to the other two, " 

Maki gave a small glance to the purple haired male, " So am I not going to hear of this?" 

Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, scratching some of his purple tinted hair, " Well, n-not really. But you should understand with dealin' with those kiddies, right?" She nodded and kept to herself, " But, i'm sure he'll be fine! He's always been like that." He chuckled with his happy go-lucky attitude. 

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Kaede softly hummed, washing a few vegetables that she had grabbed from the fridge. " Well...To put it vaguely, Shuichi had the tendency to not take care of himself sometimes from when we were kids. He might have gotten better though." 

Kaito's chest lightened as his childhood friend spoke up, knowing it was a bit safer to say a few things, " Honestly, don't know how he survived out in the big city-no offense. Sure hope he had someone there for him. Could'a been his supervisor, but not too sure." The trainee pondered for a moment before shaking it off and chopping up the vegetables, handing them to Maki who started to jot down mental notes. She had seen this type of behavior more than often, kids came in like that, that's just how the Orphanage worked. She hummed out a 'Mhmm', letting the two know she was paying full attention. 

Kaede had listened to what Kaito had told Maki while washing the vegetables she had grabbed from the fridge, nodding at sentences that Kaito had said and affirming them. She sighed softly, looking down at the sink when she had finished watching the vegetables. “ I really hope he got better by himself, and that someone was at least there for him....” she mumbled softly, adding onto the conversation. “ But,” she forced a smile on her face, glancing over at the two. “ He’s got all three of us to take care of him now! So, we don’t have to worry anymore! Well... I hope we won’t have to worry anymore. As long as he doesn’t overwork himself...” She spoke the last part of her talk very faintly, barely a whisper as she dried her hands off from the sink. While all of this was taking place, Shuichi found himself upstairs. Submerging himself in the note he had found, his detective work. 

The ever zealous Kaito gave a determined grin, pounding his knuckles together, " Damn right he's got us to take care of 'em! I gotta' make up for the time I wasn't there for him in the now! Ya' dun' gotta' worry a thing Kaede! Ain't lettin' him fall back to his old roots or my name isn't Kaito Momota! Luminary of The Stars!" He yelled out, swinging his arm upwards to point at the sky-or well... The ceiling at the very least. As much as Shuichi knew his friends and by the indication of Kaito's persistent upbeat attitude, he more than likely wanted him to take care of himself, he wasn't really in the mood to have anything somewhat big like dinner or anything at all in that manner. Though... he would need to get something to eat eventually, even if it were a snack. Maki's crimson eyes glanced over her shoulder, hearing subtle movement, gently knowing she had noticed the detective had quietly walked in, grabbed a snack and swiftly moved his way up the stairs again. Kaito at this point felt something in the air and caught the two girls looking to another. " Uhhh... Am I missin' somethin'?" 

Maki put a palm on her face, " How you are security over at the museum alludes me to this day." 

" W-What is that suppose to mean?!" His face flustered up slightly, not in an angry way, but for the up tenth time today, just a bit embarrassed by not noticing something he should have. 

Shuichi had slipped in and out of the kitchen with ease, slightly surprised that Kaito hadn’t noticed him at all... Kaede had started to laugh when Kaito didn’t even notice the detective grabbing something to eat at all, looking towards him and his flustered face which made her giggle just a bit more. Shuichi had taken his snack upstairs, eating it at his desk quickly to subdue his hunger before looking out of the window at the winter storm that was blowing outside wondering if he should do as the note said or skip past it because of the weather... he was leaning more towards going at this point. 

Maki gave him a deadpanned look, " Do you seriously not notice anything different?" Kaito... being well... Kaito raised a purple brow and glanced over. Maki all the while watched him holding a puffy smile, suppressing herself from smiling wide from his antics. 

It took a good moment or so until Kaito gasped, " Oh shit! We got ghosts!" " 

" N-No, you doofus." Maki managed to say, again holding back any laughter. 

" Oh...Oh-OHHHH! Oh. Wow he's really friggen' quiet ain't he? No wonder he's a fuckin' detective." 

Kaede kept on giggling slightly from Kaito thinking the house had ghosts, and even just a little more when he had finally figured out that Shuichi had slipped in and out of the kitchen in almost complete silence. She giggled, “ I don’t think that’s completely why he’s a detective,” she added on playfully, unintentionally teasing him. 

Thanks to the map he had received the first day he had arrived in town, he had realized that the Convenient store by Roshi Street and Lin-Square was nearby the house, so it would most likely take him about 5 to 10 minutes to walk there. Shuichi had been able to figure out on the map where he needed to go, and decided that he’s wait until everyone else was asleep, in their rooms, or away from the house. The note did tell him to not tell anyone, after all. He didn’t want to risk anything. A while went by as the other three talked among themselves until it was nearly midnight. Luckily for Shuichi, everyone else was finished with dinner and doing their own thing some place else in the home. Outside, the storm had started, but it still appeared to be in it's beginning stage. He was also incredibly lucky as he just missed Kaito and Maki, the girl talking to the other about how he should stay inside for the night, not at all noticing the detective slink out into the snow, which seemed fairly worse, but not to terrible to terrain through. At the the covenant store, it's lights were off when he got there, no one in sight was there working. The store said it was closed and to be back in another week or so, by a sign hanging from the inside, yet once Shuichi got closer, he noticed the door was unlocked and a light in the very back flickered, revealing a shadow of someone putting on something, more than likely the mask. 

Shuichi pulled his scarf up his face a little more, sticking his hands in his pockets to avoid the falling snow as he made his way closer to the convenience store he was instructed to meet by. When he had saw the shadow, he immediately saw that it seemed to be of someone putting on a mask. This was probably who had brought him there with the gasoline-soaked note... he stepped forwards through the freshly fallen snow and slowly pushed open the unlocked door. This was technically trespassing... but he was investigating with probable cause. So it would probably be fine. He made sure the unlocked door closed behind him as he slowly approached the flickering light in the back of the store. “ H... Hello...?” He called out nervously. 

Out from one of the many aisles was the same masked stranger he had perused, talked to, and gotten him to take his protective hat's gaze off. " Upupupu, wow, you actually made it? Heh, thought I'd freeze out there if I had to wait any longer. Though you had best not have had anyone follow, or well..." They pulled out a switchblade, whirling it around in their hand with ease and precision. " Let's just say there's many members of my organization outside, they would dispose of them and same would be said for you~. Even if you are fun to pester... Come now, Detective, it's cold outside." At that moment, some of the lights flicked on as well as the heater. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes slightly when a switchblade was pulled out of what seemed to be thin air, definitely not expecting a sort of threat like that...this made him more on edge, jumping slightly when the lights and the heater suddenly came on inside of the building. He thought for a moment while the heating kicked in, looking at the masked stranger in front of him. “ You.... you’re lying, right?” He asked, questioning his threat, “ Even if I did tell someone or have them follow me, it would be against the whole motif of D.I.C.E... wouldn’t it?” He questioned skeptically. 

The masked individual gave a deadpan tone of voice as their voice mixed with the strange device to talk, " Why would I lie? What do I have to gain on that? Besides, if I were lying, then why would I have this little blade detective? That would mean self defense on my part. So maybe..." They sighed, shrugging their white coated shoulders, seemingly making it vanish, " There you go. Happy? It's just us... But I do have people nearby just in case. I've dealt with your 'boss' one too many times. We just haven't used force yet... We don't want to, but we will if need be." They clasped their gloved hands and signaled the detective to move forward, " I just wanted to have a chat with you, that's all." 

Shuichi had listened to his explanation behind having the blade, somewhat believing it after all he’s heard about Haiji and how his... way of handling things could prompt a negative response for a while from the group. He slowly stepped forward, carefully when he was signaled to come a little closer. He didn’t go awfully close however, not knowing what might happen if he didn’t stay a reasonable distance away. “ Well...” He mumbled slightly, “ Y... You have my attention... What did you want to chat about with me...?” 

" Well... You're rather interesting. And because you're interesting, I can tell you have feelings for others, not because it's your job like many detectives before you, but because you seem to care. Especially if that care were to get crushed and scattered around like snowflakes." They wiggled their fingers like they were sprinkling some type of fine spice in the air. " But enough of that. You're here because you were curious to what I've obtained." The stranger held a hand out and put a cloth over it, pulling it away to show off an orb that looked to be crystallized on the inside. " I stole this a while ago before you came here. Cops went nuts, and the case is still open. I'd gladly give it, but not without a price." 

After hearing about the item and seeing the precious crystallized orb in the palm of the masked stranger’s hand, one of the first thoughts that Shuichi had in his head was about if every one of these ‘meetings’ that he had with the gang leader was going to be trading off a precious item the police were looking for in exchange for a piece of himself. He really hoped not... but he bought into the clear bait of the precious item and cautiously asked, “ What’s the price for it...?” in a calm tone of voice. 

" Upupupup~!" They cooed out and put the orb back in a pouch wrapped onto their belt of many gadgets and gizmos hidden away. " All I ask for issss... A dance. Though I may not be wonderful as I normally am due to what happened last time. It's nearing the festive times, and seeing people have such fun makes me wonder about it. Or are you too shy? Judging on the avoidance of eyes, you're not fooling anyone with that in mind you." They stood up on the back of their heels and chuckled under the glossy mask, " Sides... I've always wanted to dance with someone I've taken a liking to~." 

Something in Shuichi’s brain short circuited when the price had been told to him and kept reverberating through his mind. His cheeks heated up just slightly, the thought of dancing with the masked stranger had made him flustered. The thought of dancing with anyone made him flustered. And what did ‘taken a liking to’ mean exactly in this context? Would it be purely interest in him as a detective or... something else? He would probably too embarrassed to even ask that. He tried to shake the thought out of his head as he looked at them standing in front of him. This was for the orb though... and even though the dance could potentially be dangerous, he seriously doubted that the leader would do anything too reckless... Shuichi cleared his throat out of embarrassment, looking off to the side. “ U..Um....” He spoke quietly “ I...I-I guess that would be alright.” 

The stranger sounded delighted however, " Upupup, if not, there's always other things~!" They placed around putting a finger to their mask's chin. If Shuichi was more bold or not so flustered, he could have just ran over and snatch the crystallized artifact, but he wasn't. Finally the other stopped and tilted their head up pointing out several mistletoe around the store. Someone must have been desperate, " Hrm... Mistletoe, but upupup, that'd be a last resort. I'm glad that you'll comply with a dance. Good on you Detective." They clapped a bit while some hints of green were up on the ceiling, causing further insult to injury. Who would put that many mistletoe there?! The rule is that both have to stand under it, right? Did the stranger put it there? No, there's no time to think about that, why would you ever think about that? Wait, you wouldn't even kiss the thief if you both were under them anyways, right? 

Shuichi was shocked by the number of mistletoe on the ceiling, not knowing where they came from. Maybe... maybe it was a romantic ‘liking to’...? He... he didn’t know if he should comply with the rules of mistletoe, hearing the masked thief call it a last resort. But, would he even do that if asked to...? This was a light criminal he was with, not some date in the middle of a snow storm in an abandoned convenience store... He got more flustered the more he had thought about it, glad he accepted the dance now over the other options the ceiling might have entailed. “ Y-Yeah...” He mumbled as a dazed response, not fully present while in his head thinking about the whole incident. 

" Oh sorry, I hadn't realized you didn't notice them, just don't think about it too much upupup~!" The thief merely grinned under his mask, hiding his joyous expression and twirled his his wrist, bowing to the detective in a cordially way. They kept toying with him, acting like some sort of masked gentleman or something. " Well then, would you care to take charge or rather me lead~?" They chuckled, Shuichi's reddened face amusing them. " You are much better than the others. They never take the time to listen. It's the only reason I'm being polite quite honestly. Sure we're on opposite sides, but we can still be civil right?" 

Shuichi watched as the masked thief bowed towards him, not knowing if he should feel flattered or insulted for being toyed with like this... He listened to the question, his face getting more red as the topic of dancing came up again. He got more embarrassed and flustered when he had been told he was better than ‘the others’ avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment, “ Th-Thanks...” He mumbled, followed by a reply to the first question, “ A-And I’m not a very good dancer so... I wouldn’t know anything really....” 

The slightly shorter person ran up to him, pulling him along to the back where there was more room from bumping into the rows of convenient goods, almost like how Kokichi had led him along the ice earlier that day, but much more forceful. " Upupup~! Guess I can show you then Detective!" Their hands were a bit chilled from the gloves, but they soon intertwined their fingers with Shuichi's and getting into position to start a waltz with the detective. This was the first time he got a close look at the mask. It almost looked like porcelain, but it was only due to the material it was made of. It's grin looked to be mocking him in a way, giggling at any inabilities and flaws. All while it's red jagged eye let off a shining hue, like it was looking into his very soul, waiting for him to be vulnerable before swallowing him up into the razor toothed side. 

Shuichi had felt their fingers intertwine together, getting flustered and embarrassed over the closeness that the two had shared. He would get flustered if anyone had gotten in his personal space, but this time was a bit different. Well, a lot different actually. The feeling he got dancing with the masked criminal, being this close to him, gave him a lot of anxiety. He took note of how ironic the situation was, something as gentle and as intimate as dancing together with someone who was known to stir up trouble. And on top of it, that someone was also wearing a mask that had put Shuichi on edge. He looked down at the mask to inspect it, before a second later he wasn’t just staring at the mask but also seeming to stare at the person inside of it. 

As Shuichi followed along the simple yet understandable nervous ridden waltz, he was at least following the instructions of his old teacher in the 7th grade when Kaede had managed to convince him and Kaito to join the school's play. That was a nice time. Especially seeing Kaito be a tree and fall over several times... But now, here he was with a wanted criminal who simply wanted to dance. It was questionable if the other person was smiling just as the mask they wore, or equally as flustered up. The stranger sighed in content before motivating themselves a bit closer and gradually moving the waltzing into a semi-slow dance, nearly leaning the side of the mask and head on the detective's chest, fully enamored by the peaceful dancing. " Heh, you're sweet. So much different than the others. They'd never do this. Honestly I think you're braver than some of them." Even with the voice modifier, Shuichi could tell they seemed to be docile. 

Shuichi felt his chest tighten slightly when he felt the side of the stranger’s mask nearly leaning against his chest, his breath caught in his throat from how close the stranger was getting to him. At this point, it was hard to label the emotion as embarrassment or discomfort. He was leaning more towards embarrassment in his head. He listened to the calm-seeming voice they had compliment him on his bravery and how sweet he was. His face lit up bright red, like how the hue of a ripe tomato. “ Th... Thanks,” Shuichi managed to mumble out. He didn’t really know how he was processing these comments, or what he even should be feeling at the moment. He was just a bit overwhelmed. But, somehow without even realizing it himself his feet had began moving without him having to focus on them, following the pace of the dance that was set. He was getting used to the dancing more than he had realized. 

" You chased after me several times, it takes bravery to chase someone who can easily end your life. And you really are sweet... I've seen you care for others. I don't stalk you, these are just things I have noticed. Ahh, at times like these it's a shame we're on opposite sides." The leader chuckled almost painfully due to the voice modifier, but it was possible they were upset at themselves, " Heh, you're one of the better reminders of why I can never be normal." They paused for a moment before reeling their thoughts back. " Thank you for dancing with me..." The masked stranger let go of the detective's hands and walked back, putting a gloved hand to the white side of the mask, either mentally beating themselves up or failing to wipe a tear away. They sighed and shook their head before pulling out the orb and handing it to him. " Many others would have jumped me for this opportunity. But you're different. I like that." 

Shuichi had been flustered by the compliments he had been given, looking down at the masked thief. He had also noticed how they were reacting to all of this, his words, and the way they seemed to talk under that voice modifier. It could disguise a pitch of voice, sure, but it was hard to hide emotions... When their hands had parted, he still felt the lingering feeling of the other’s fingers being there. But the feeling was almost immediately filled with the feeling of the precious orb being placed in his hands. A bit his lip softly, looking down at the orb. For some reason, a few moments ago... he forgot all about what he was dancing for until his ‘reward’ was placed in his hands. Shuichi then looked up toward them, mumbling softly, “ You’re different too...” he took a deep breath before continuing, “ the police make you and your group out as horrible people... but when I had gotten the chance to speak to all of the children at the orphanage, it seemed like the police should be acknowledging the gang in a better light than they have been.” He sighed, “ So, even though you do break laws...you do morally kind things. So...” He glanced off to the side and down at the floor, slightly embarrassed. “ Thanks. F-For all of the morally right things, that is. Especially for the kids.” 

The stranger tilted their head curious just like the fox they wore to keep their identity safely tucked away. That was when the giggling came out, echoing and reverberating from the mask, surrounding themselves with their own laughter. Shuichi wasn't talking to a criminal at the moment, it seemed he'd stumbled upon something much worse. A person who was actually broken under the mask. The laughter turned into the cackling of a madman, although not in the way one would expect. Not the down right terrifying psychotic, but rather like a child who was just utterly broken. The laughter subsided to their normal one, forcing themselves, because even the best actor couldn't replicate being broken in reality for even just a moment. They eventually settled down from the sudden outburst, " Upu-u-upup... There are bad people all over the world. What's the point in joining in that mess of despair? All you ever hear on the news is something bad. But the good things, they get swept under the rug, just like so many people. I don't need your thanks-okay maybe a little, but that doesn't change much. At the end of things, the moral things in the world are just swept under the rug as well... Just like little Monaca~." Their tone tuned into that dark shallow one Shuichu was nervous with. 

Shuichi was startled by the sudden laughter that had erupted from inside of the mask, being able to tell how broken they had sounded from the painful laugh. The explanation of the good and bad in the media had always been present in Shuichi’s mind, but for some reason when they had repeated it to him it hit him harder. He was happy that his thanks had mean something to the masked thief, even if it was just a little thing. But, he was put on edge again when there was mention of the little green haired girl from the orphanage in relation to it paired along with the dark tone it was spoken in. “ M-Monaca...?” He questioned quickly. “ What does she have to do with any of it...?” 

The stranger put his hands up in a shrugging motion, shaking their head side to side in a coy manner, " Nothing really. She's just a wonderful little example of the good being mixed in with the bad. Much like the other children, she was abandoned for not being a great gift within such an uptight and proud family. Did she never give you her last name? That's because the powerful deem themselves as good. They sweep what they consider bad and useless under the rug~!" They put their gloved hands to the ever present grinning of the mask, " Upupup~! You see, I know what it's like... A small bit of those kids is what makes me, me~!" He cackled out. " I can relate to them all in small bits..." The jagged eye started to glow the hazy red behind a low dimmed inferno like before, " Beaten, yes. Out casted, yes. Touched, a small bit until I was saved. Poor Kotoko... Where was I? Oh right! Subjected as a lab rat, maaaajor yes! And to top it all off, abandoned by the only family I had left, yup, yup, two times in fact! The only reason I'm moral is because nobody has the right to go through that when they never did anything wrong in the first place~! I'm one of the few bits of hope that's stringing them together so they don't become like this... There's already people who steal and hurt others, what is the point joining them? Especially when it's much more fun to switch it up, right~? And yet... The police mark us just like the rest. Where's the moral in that?" 

Shuichi had listened to him talking about how they could relate to the kids immensely, how much they personally have been through... It made his chest heavy and sad just hearing about it. And he thought his childhood was rough... but he could relate to what he was feeling about the police as well. He glanced up at the masked person, sighing. “ I... I’m sorry all of that happened to you. And I’m sorry that it seems like the police didn’t do anything to help you....” He then mumbled softly, “ If I was there when that all happened to you I would have done all that I could to help...” He looked off to the side, speaking deeply from the heart like he was truly and honestly upset over what had happened. “ No one should have to go through pain like that....” 

They sighed out themselves as the red gleam faded away, " I don't need a sorry. That's how I feel with the kids, but they tell me not to worry. They knew I couldn't be there, along with everyone helping them out now. Anyways it doesn't matter..." They shrugged off Shuichi's talk, either forcing themselves to or just not caring. " People can only be in one place at one time. And as long as I know where you are~. I know where the feeling of fun is" Even though the back lights were dim, the beautiful orb glistened under the lights, much like a star. The fox masked person soon turned and went to go open the doors.... only to find it being covered up with the thick sheet of white snow. They stayed silent before rattling the door more and more, ending up a sudden step back and looking over their shoulder to Shuichi. The bad thing was, was that the glass was bullet proof after various robberies in the past. " Uh-oh..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leader has been through some shit... But so has Shuichi...


	11. We Are Alone, And All We Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A detective locked in a drug store with a criminal... Who do you think would become terrified?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed this chapter's title to the previous and changed the previous one's.

" Upupup, well, would you look at that! We're snowed in~!" They turned around putting their hands up in the air, sounding happy and joyful. However it was hard to tell from the mask blocking their initial reaction. 

Shuichi turned and watched them try to open the door, widening his eyes when he saw that the snow was blocking the door after being opened. Maybe the weather had gotten to be more of a problem than the both of them had originally thought... he went up to the door as well, trying to pry it open as well. But he wasn’t that much help either. “ What do we do now...?” He asked out loud, to himself and to the other masked person. 

" Well then... I'm not terribly sure." They took out their switchblade and started to toss it into the air, catching it and doing it over and over to decrease boredom. The fox walked away from the detective, flipping the blade like an expert, not once cutting themselves. They tilted their head in curiosity, and over their shoulder wondering if Shuichi wasn't going to try and attempt to unmask him or anything for that matter. Anyone else would take the opportunity. 

Shuichi watched at the other took out their blade and started to toss it up and down in the air. If they were snowed in... then they were stuck with each other, right? Was this planned, or just coincidence? If they were trapped like this... then Shuichi could easily take their mask off and reveal who they were... but he doubted that they would let him do that. Plus, it seemed to go against he game they wanted to play. Another part of Shuichi thought that if he figured out who it was now... then he’d have to turn them in without knowing more about them, and all of the good things the gang would be doing would stop. So he decided against doing anything except sitting down against the front counter and making himself comfortable for the moment. 

Around fifteen minutes went by before the thief came back after walking a few laps around the rows of products, " ..... Never been stuck in a place for about a day huh?" The thief asked, but sounding further away. Once Shuichi looked over, the other was sitting far away, back against the counter to the drinks, tea, coffee, and slushies. They fiddled around with some straps on their legs and arms. Their fingers slipping around and twirling the raggedy and worn out straps of a mental ward; or rather an asylum. They sighed lightly, looking side to side, up and down at a constant slow pace, " Not much of a talker are you? That's a shame." They huddled themselves, hugging their legs against their wiry build. It didn't take a detective to figure out they were slowly dipping into the disturbed and unsettled range. 

Shuichi glanced over at the figure huddling in front of the drinks counter, being able to tell their emotions just from their body language. He thought for a moment, various thoughts running through his mind about what morally right thing to do and the best thing to do in this situation. If the masked thief had let him get so close before while they were dancing... maybe they’d let him do it again? He stood up from his spot and slowly walked over towards where the other was sitting, sitting next to him but still keeping a few good inches between the both of them. “ I-I can talk if you want.... just don’t know how interesting I’d be....” 

The other studied him, furrowing brows under the mask hiding away their identity, well until the detective got closer, making the smaller of the two tense and un-grasp his legs, putting a hand onto the cold marbled tile and the other stuffed into their pocket. They were ready to fight or take flight by the looks of it, much like a trapped animal. They didn't move away but they certainly gave off the warning aura, " Upupup, you stutter quite a bit. You gotta' learn to relax and be a little more assertive. Being nice all the time just gets you hurt, don't you know?" They watched him diligently, curious to see if he could pry open the shy detective if just a little bit, or rather keeping the other on guard like they were doing as such. 

Shuichi glanced over at the person sitting besides him, taking note of what their body language was telling him. He leaned against the counter, seeming to try and relax slightly to see if he could get the other to calm down slightly. He looked off to the side in slight embarrassment when his shy demeanor was commented on, giving a soft smile before he replied, “ I... I don’t even know if I could be more assertive than I am... even if I did try, I’d probably sound weird.” 

Eventually this did calm the criminal down, back to sitting instead of having a foot ready to push them forward to evade an upcoming attack if one came at him. They put their other hand within another pocket on their belt. " Pth, man how in the world did you become a detective? You're lucky my minions aren't as nearly as violent as I am~." They snickered, waggling a finger. " You've got to have some spine in there, otherwise you'd be no fun. Yeah I like sweet, but I also like sour. Take lessons from your partner or something. If you let it bottle up..." They went quiet in a faint recollection of themselves. " You'll snap and regret everything." They said in a darkly and almost emotionless tone of voice. Then the peppiness came rising up again, " Though you don't want to get like your boss or how Hinata use to be, trust me on that..." 

Shuichi looked off to the side with an embarrassed smile on his face when he was questioned on how he had became a detective in the first place. But, he raised a brow slightly when the other had suddenly turned from teasing, to dark and emotionless, then back to happy in less than a minute. He was also intrigued why they had brought up Hajime in this situation, thinking for a moment before speaking. “ Well... What did Hajime use to be like...?” He asked softly, “ So I know what not to be.” 

The stranger stayed quiet for a moment or so, " ..... Possibly worse then Haiji. Normally pretty angry but somehow lacking any emotion at the same time. He didn't take no as an answer, hated himself, hated the place he was in, hated just about everyone, almost little to no personality at all. Not sure what fucked that guy over or what fixed him." They soon put their arms behind their head in a relaxed position. " Just trying to get you to have fun maybe... That or I'm just helping so you don't get hurt and turn out like him. Why am I helping? Because I like fixing broken things time from time." They snickered under their mask and looked around at the shelves and various machinery strewn about the place. 

Shuichi looked over at the only other person in the store, taking in everything he had just said about Hajime. He... didn’t think he could ever imagine him ever being that way. It would almost be impossible for him to even attempt to do so. Whatever had changed Hajime into the person he was today... he was pretty thankful for. He lifted his eyebrow slightly as their last statement about him though, “ Broken..?” He asked, “ What makes you think that I’m broken?” 

" Upupup, I can tell. Not fully but just a tiny bit. It was mostly the hat... Either that or I'm the one whose getting flustered and don't know what to say from being in a locked area~!" They shrugged and giggled to themselves, giving a good insightful description that they were either fucking with him, or they were claustrophobic. " But enough on that topic, you get flustered super easy which is absolutely fucking precious!" They cracked out into a fit of laughter, eventually holding their stomach and nearly toppling over to the side. " S-Seriously?! Getting embarrassed around a notorious criminal-hehehe... Ah... you are by far one of the oddest person I've met! But that's a good thing in my book~!" 

An hour or so went by and seemed like this 'wanted felon' was actually asleep. Asleep and right next to the detective! They hadn't moved or talked for such a long period of time, making their slightly threatening demeanor lower to little threat. But was Shuichi able to build up enough courage to actually try and remove the mask? Shuichi had noticed how the masked felon sitting next to him seemed to calm down drastically, having been quiet for the past few moments as well...in his head it was a good idea to once and for all reveal the identity of the leader of the gang by pulling off the mask... but there was a big possibility that they weren’t actually sleeping, just faking to test him. It would take a lot of courage to do this, that’s for sure... he took a deep breath, seeing now if he could test the waters to see if he was actually asleep... He reached over towards the gloved hand, gently placing his fingers on it before starting to hold onto it to see if there was any type or reaction at all... change in breathing patterns, twitching, noises, anything at all to indicate if he was asleep or awake... 

The masked thief breathed regularly while their fingers twitched a bit under Shuichi's. They twitched around slightly like a small kitten getting use to their body while they slept, small tiny spasms here and there. They seemed at peace, then again they had started twitching around once they fell asleep, and their breathing didn't hitch. No noise came out from the mask but the small breaths, reassuring they were indeed alive. More importantly they kept mostly still next to the detective, the slightest movement not waking them up. Shuichi hadn’t sensed anything abnormal or different when he had held the masked thief’s hand, deeming that he was indeed asleep. He didn’t know how he was able to act so calm and peaceful otherwise... He bit his lip softly, quickly making the decision out of instinct before his mind had time to think about the possible repercussions of his actions. He moved his hand slowly way from the other’s gloved hand, then starting to reach towards the mask. He cautiously grabbed onto it, then started to gently and slowly move it off of the other’s face. 

A hand grabbed hold of Shuichi's narrow wrist, " Upupupu~..." They chuckled out, the red eye glowing brighter than any before previously. Suddenly the thief quickly flipped out their switchblade in the other hand, now holding it dangerously close to the detective's neck, still clutching his wrist. " Awww, I'm sorry. Did you really think I'd let you do that? Upupup, I've been able to stay up for three days straight before~!" They kept laughing in a bit of a maniacal way before putting the blade up and letting go of Shuichi's wrist to let his reaction play out. " Don't you know foxes bite~?" Shuichi jumped slightly and widened his eyes when his wrist was suddenly grabbed and felt his heat pounding heavily against his chest when the blade was held dangerously close to his neck. He held his breath, then exhaled softly when his wrist was released and when the switchblade was put up. Some part of him knew it would way too easy, that they wouldn’t even let their guard down in front of a detective... it was a stupid decision on his part, one that left him stunned with his mouth hanging open, not being able to find the words to say in reaction to it. 

The stranger made a sound of a low whine before sighing, " Sorry to scare you so badly. I'm not that bad of a guy. But then again in a way I am. But I can't just let you find who I am like that~." The remained silent, possibly feeling guilty, but again it was hard to determine with that mask shielding their face. " Guess once I've had the taste of conflict I crave it. And it's not fun if you knew who I was just yet, right~?" They didn't play with their knife anymore thankfully. 

Shuichi had listened to them, seeming to calm down and relax when he had heard explanations and how his tone of voice under the modifier seemed to sound...non-threatening and maybe even a little gentle. He nodded softly, letting out a small smile to try and show the other he was fine. “ Y-Yeah...” He spoke “ I mean... I guess it was too good to be true, and a part of me knew that...” He sighed, “ Th.. That’s what I get to listening to my instinct...” 

" Upupup... Maybe you shouldn't try snatching my mask then. Finding out whose behind isn't exciting until it 'should' happen. This is not one of those times." They waved a finger as if to mildly scold him. " Just a fair warning. I am a criminal after all, aren't I?" After which the criminal didn't seem to want to talk after scaring the other. Both of them sat in an awkward silence for a while, but it was more awkward for Shuichi than the thief. It was just so silent to the point where all the two could hear were the small hums and whirs of the machines and generator that was left open to operate. The thief huffed and sat down near him in a stubborn way, wrapping their arms around his own legs, resting the fox head on the ends of their knees. " ..... Well this is boring." The thief's foot tapped a bit before they got up and quickly grabbed their switch-blade back and into their belt's pouch. The slender criminal walked away from their initial spot and paced about nervously like an animal waiting for it's daily food in a locked cage of a circus 

Shuichi looked up at the criminal as he had gotten up and started to pace nervously, sitting down on the floor and just watching them. He sighed softly, tapping his fingers against his legs and trying to think of a way to get the both of them out of there, since the whole thing had gotten boring and tense since he tried taking his mask off...he thought for a moment before glancing up at the masked thief. “ Do we have anyway of getting someone out there to try and pry the door open from the outside...?” He asked. He... He didn’t really want to call on his friends to help break him out, but if he had to he might... he would much prefer it if they could call one of their gang members. 

Yet they kept pacing, " I'd much rather not bother my minions, convincing them and having them get up and bust me out of a damn gas station. I keep my minions in care-what kind of evil overlord would I be if I didn't? They need their rest, we've got many things to do after all~! And like hell we're calling your friends or the police. I'm NOT... getting caught." They said in a hollow and cold manner before pacing again. 

After a bit more time passed, the masked stranger soon rested in a sitting position again, every so often before getting back up and pacing down the aisles nervously, clutching the sides of their thin arms, hesitantly looking at the various foods and snacks littered on the shelves. They we're slowly starting to unwind into what could only be described as stir-crazy, or another hint of claustrophobia. They walked back to their usual spot and leaned against the wall near the icy drinks kept in the back, tapping their foot impatiently, muttering to themselves, " Mrm... Can't touch a thing... It'll just leave evidence. They'll use it against me. They'll blame me. He'll win. I'll be alone. Can't go back, can't go back, not again. No, no, no..." They muttered to themselves, not knowing how loud they actually were as they we're delving into their mind. 

Shuichi had recognized almost instantly the symptoms that the masked thief was experiencing, knowing that this could turn really bad at any second. Especially since they had started to talk to themselves as well. Seeing them become slowly like this, he couldn’t bare to see it. Something in his heart wanted to go over and help them. He thought for a couple more minutes, trying to think of a plan to get the both of them out of there. He stood up, slowly approaching them. Shuichi looked at them and tried to at least calm them down. “ Hey, I have a plan that’s almost guaranteed to work, just... take a few deep breaths, okay? Let’s try and keep a level head about this..” 

The other who had been preoccupied in their own little world, shot up once they heard the detective speak calmly, making them jolt back from the sudden noise slicing through the silent hums around them. " L-Like, what? I-I can't touch anything-I can't try and break anything-I'll leave evidence, then they'll know, and then I'll be sent back-and-and then-then-then!" They shook their head along with the mask, wrapping themselves in their own white coated arms before taking slow deep breaths, keeping themselves focused and in control until they looked back up over to the navy haired male, " O-Okay, wh-what? D-Does it have to do with the ventilation or something else?" 

Shuichi was happy to see that they had taken deep breaths and seemed to calm down a little bit. He nodded softly, looking towards them. “ Y... Yes. If we can find a vent big enough to fit the both of us through, and that leads to outside, we can take it. I’ll open them all and climb through them to see where they go, then come back for you if I find one. And... if I don’t find one, we’ll call one of my roommates. I’m pretty sure with all of the information you seem to have on me, I can easily say my only male roommate would get here, you’d know who it is... I would say that you had ran off and locked me in here by myself, then get him to open the door from the outside and the whole time you’d be hiding. When I leave I’ll prop the door open with something in here, and you can just wait until we leave, then kick the doorstop back into the store and shut the door. Would you like to go the vents first, or just skip to the second plan...?” 

The porcelain type mask quietly tilted it's head to an uncomfortable looking position, possibly the wearer's eyes going wide on the other side by the looks of it. " There's a vent in the wall's top corner over there near the hot-dogs... Judging by the size it'll fit a person... But, really? You're going to try to go into the ventilation? Hehehe, you're crazy, ya' know that? Don't you know the fans in there will chop you up into little tiny pieces? Enough to make a detective-shish-ka-bob. Upupu, if you're that desperate, just ask me and my switchblade." They slowed their inane laughter to a sigh and grabbed something from another pouch of the belt. They pulled out a small black rod before having it spread out like a baton from a simple push of an unseen button. " Might need this. It'll break the fans, but better safe than sorry." 

Shuichi looked at the small baton-like rod that they had pulled out from a pouch on their belt, taking it slowly from them and inspecting it and avoiding eye contact, “ Um... well... I didn’t know the fans would be in there... but it’s definitely try to worth it to try and break them, even if that’s damage to property....” He sighed softly, “ I’ll over look it this one time... so... is this going to jam the fan or does it have some sort of feature that’ll break it...?” 

" Shove it in, it'll break. Ventilation systems always have a fan or something. I learned that the hard way. And before you ask, why I know, I'll just tell you, trying to get out of a room that's normally freezing by a vent, you get to learn the hard way." They tugged at their arm's strap, toying with them and fiddling with some small gashes in the fabric. " That baton should be more than durable to break it, just try not to look at it and protect yourself by huddling, close your eyes." 

Shuichi nodded, smiling softly while they confirmed the plans between the both of them, holding firmly onto the baton. He took a mental note that the leader might have this on him in the future as well...” Thanks.” He smiled, before going towards the vent that was in the wall’s top corner. He stood up on the counter carefully, stabilizing himself before reaching up and opening the vent. He looked down at the masked thief, smiling softly, “ Just... remember too keep breathing, Yeah?” 

The other avoided any eye contact for once, it was so unlike them considering they were constantly getting near his face, teasing, and mocking him. But they had quieted down after a while from the tension of being locked up. It was times like this, that Shuichi could only think how they'd react to being locked up in jail or an actual mental institution, if the straight jacket they wore was a fake. They then tossed him a screwdriver to open the screws preventing anyone from getting into the smaller space. Once the detective was done loosening the screws with the tool he had acquired, removing the vent door not to long after, he was given a flashlight-just how many tools did the thief have on them?! The other watched intently, or trying their best not too. They didn't want to seem to invested in watching Shuichi crawl into the vents of the unknown, but couldn't help themselves. 

Shuichi had squeezed his way into the vent, getting out the flashlight, shuffling through it on his arms and knees as he tried to make his way through the vent. It didn’t take long for him to encounter the fan that both of them had talked about earlier. He ducked his head slightly, covering it with his hand and peeking quickly through the gap in his fingers before closing his eyes. He used his other hand to quickly move the baton through the fan, blocking it and after a couple of seconds making a loud cracking sound. Shuichi had looked up and saw the fan had broke, grabbing the baton and continuing forward. He was able to dent the fan out of the way and kept crawling through the vent. Eventually he had saw a grate that led to what seemed like a pitch black space. Once he had got to the vent, he pushed the hinges open and pushed the vent open, glancing on the other side. The cold hair hit his face along with a wave of relief. 

After a moment the thief turned around to take their mask off just in case the detective decided to poke his head back out. Kokichi breathed in fresh air in deeply, gulping down the cool air from the slightly stuffy mask. Sure it let him breath and have the skin feel some air, but it was like anything else that was put on the face aside from glasses. Kokichi peeked into the ventilation, nervous about the whole thing due seeing the much smaller narrow hallway of ventilation. Only reason he hadn't thought of this was because frankly he had wanted to talk to the detective, mess with him, but then he began falling into a past experience where the vents were to high up, going near this one would have made him feel disoriented even it be not that high up. He was also becoming panicked and thoroughly stuck in the past making his reasoning come to a stand still. He fussed with the mask, putting it back on to talk without Shuichi knowing his actual voice, " Is it open or did they put up bars like actual smart people?" 

Shuichi had heard the modulated voice coming from the other side of the vent, trying to turn his head back slightly so he could shout to the other end of the vent behind him while gripping onto the bars that had covered the vent and trying to shake them. He hoped the bars were easily removable, but that didn’t seem to be the case... his relief had been replaced with dread. He shouted back towards the masked leader, “ There’s bars here...!” He sighed, continuing on, “ I don’t suppose you have anything that can certify iron bars, do you?” 

The thief backed away to let Shuichi ease himself out from the vents when he wanted to and held their temples, cursing slightly. " Ah... I've got shit all against bars! Wish I had something to melt it like in those spy movies, or have the can opener from the police, use some laser beams or something..." They sighed out in frustration before calling back to him again, Also, I want my baton, screwdriver, and flashlight back!" 

Shuichi had started to scoot back in the vent, heading back towards where had had come from inside the convenience store. “ Okay, I’m coming back through!” He spoke, while starting to make his way back through, eventually making it to the inside again. He slowly lowered himself feet first from the vent, finding his footing on the counter before completely going out of the vent and standing on the counter, his hair slightly disheveled. He came down from the counter, handing the masked criminal back all of the tools he had borrowed. 

They pushed the same button which had made the baton larger, making it collapse into it's hollow self and put it up. They looked over to the navy haired male and slide down along the wall like they had done so many times before, " ... Heh. This reminds me so much of so many situations... Ah, what a sad thought... It's so horribly ironic." They sighed out from behind the grinning mask, keeping their hands to themselves and away from touching anything,even though they had gloves on. Soon they curled in on themselves like a small kid in a timeout corner, sitting there, rocking slightly with their back to the wall. They fidgeted in place as their eyes shifted around under the mask, past fading into reality slowly, and going into a mild panic attack. The breaths were getting worse while the gloved hands tightened in on themselves. 

Shuichi watched as they went into the corner and had immediately gotten worried when they had rocked back and forth. The more concerning signs of it though were the quick breaths and the tightening of their hands. He knelled down in front of them, trying to get on their level so he wasn’t towering over them or anything and still kept a good distance away. “ Hey, everything’s all right, just take some deep breaths...” He reaches out his hand slowly and cautiously, like one might do to an injured and scared animal to calm it down. He slowly placed his hand on top of the gloved hand, talking in a kind and gentle voice. “ That wasn’t the only plan, remember? The other plan I had has a very big chance of getting the both of us out of here safe and sound, you’ll be okay and you’ll get out of here... just focus on breathing.” 

The detective was right about being cautious near the criminal who was loosing themselves into fear and despair. It was a bit odd considering the one who should have been scared was the detective, not the thief who had lured him to the small store. The masked stranger suddenly tensed as his hand touched the black leather of the gloves, pulling their switchblade out but not aiming at Shuichi strangely enough, more of an unseen force, suddenly breaking out into a mild pant and huddling up more. " Y-You're not getting me this time! Not again! I won't be blamed! I'm not letting you take me away-" The thing that got them dangerously close was when Shuichi spoke yo them, quickly pointing the blade to the detective with unstable hands, gripping onto it as if they were trying to hold on for their own life. The mask shuddered against their face, their whole body shaking rather violently until their breaths slowed down, bringing the blade down slowly and delicately. " Huh.... What-O-Oh... Ohhh, h-hehe... S-Sorry about that. I normally don't get like this." They apologized, finally coming back to reality, putting aside the switchblade back into the safe pouch of their belt. 

When the switchblade was pulled out and aimed towards a non-existing figure, Shuichi surprisingly kept his cool about the whole situation. His subconscious had decided that he needed to remain calm during the whole situation if he had ever hoped to calm down the panicked person in front of if. So, when the knife was whipped out Shuichi only blinked, so flinching, no backing away, just remaining his ground in hopes to calm the other down. When he heard their breaths slow down and when the knife was lowered, Shuichi felt a bit of relief that they had managed to calm down. When they had apologized, Shuichi had offered up a small smile in return. " It's okay. I'm just glad you're feeling better now...!" He stood up in front of them, offering them a hand to help them up if they wanted. " I'll start calling my roommate, can you look for a place to hide that's out of view from all the windows?" 

The thief's tensed shoulders simmered down and they groaned, " I'm not better... I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm trapped here. I'm sleepy. I'm cold. This is NOT how I wanted to spend today. And now I'm hallucinating to top it all off." They sighed out and got the blade back out to play with it, flipping it around in their hands to occupy themselves. " Only one place is in the vents-and I am NOT... Going in there. I just want to wait for morning. It's not like they'll be able to get here safely with the damn ice or manage to crack it without nearly getting hypothermia..." They argued like a small child, not wanting to do this or that. They were being rather difficult with him. The thief sighed, quietly thinking to themselves again before putting his hand upon the mask's front, sprawling his fingers across it to grab it. Were they actually revealing themselves to Shuichi? Of course not due to them slightly moving it forward to get a quick cool breath from under it, letting it go to snap back in place. 

Shuichi had sighed softly when the leader was acting a little childish at the moment, claiming they didn't want to do this or that. He crossed his arms, looking at the masked thief as they played with their knife. " And what good will that do if we wait until morning? With the mental state you're in at the moment you probably aren't able to sleep and your hallucinations and mental instability will get even worse. That wouldn't be safe for me or you." He sighed, taking his coat off and handing it to the masked thief, really hoping they'd accept it so he wouldn't bean embarrassed fool. " I-If you're cold then here... and if you're hungry you can just eat something from here, I... I'll grab it for you so you don't get finger prints on anything. You can lock me in the back room while you eat so I don't see who you really are under there..." He looked off to the side, genuinely concerned about the others well being. " I'll try to think of another way to get out of here...." 

The stranger held onto the coat and looked up at him, unsure on how to react to all of this, more than likely frowning under the glazed and permanent grin the mask kept on it's face. " ... I don't have to eat. Saliva leaves DNA, the tiniest amount left behind can do many things. Even with a napkin..." They let out a deep sigh and put the knife away again, " Just... I don't know. Can you just stay with me, here? I won't do anything if I have someone next to me. It's worse if I'm alone. I won't hurt you as long as you don't try to take the mask off." They yawned out, their head bobbing left to right in a tired state. Again, much like a kid, they seemed to burst with energy before, but now that all of that was spent, they had worn themselves out, getting dizzy from keeping their attention and wits about. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly, the last thing to be expected was them actually asking the detective to stay in the room with him. He nodded, taking notice of how tired the other was, kind of like how hours ago he had met a child at the orphanage who also tired out quickly and suddenly. He looked towards them, a soft smile on his face " Okay... I swear that I won't try to take off your mask. I agree that it would just be too easy to find out this early." He looked at them sighing. " But you're really tired. I can tell... you can sleep if you want to. On... On my honor as a detective I promise I won't try and do anything while you're asleep." He looked off to the side, only now thinking that what he said might have sounded cheesy and ridiculous. 

" .... Thanks." They said quietly under the mask, not freaking out or doing anything as the other sat next to them, back to the wall and sitting on the chilled tiled flooring. It was now reaching a point of where Shuichi, himself was beginning to get really tired, to the point where everything around him just felt like wisps of smoke, as if he was disconnected in some way. It didn't take long for Shuichi to close his eyes and reopen them having the thief leaning on his arm and resting their head on his shoulder while the coat they were given was spaced out between them both, the stranger caring for Shuichi. 

When Shuichi's eyes opened, the clock above read '4:30 AM' while the thief hadn't woken up, but he found them nudging up against him. They hadn't woken him, more of just that quick wake up for some odd reason in the middle of the night. It was stranger than fiction to have the criminal you've been chasing right by your side leaning on you in sleep. Even with the weird get up the thief seemed to try to huddle close to the detective for any other comfort of warmth, seeing as the rest of the store didn't exactly have an abundance of blankets, and made up of cold tile for flooring. Shuichi was slightly disoriented when he had first awoken, but the looking at the clock had somewhat grounded him a little. And the feeling of the only other person in the gas station leaning against him in a comfortable sleep was more than enough to pull him completely back into reality. He had gazed down at the sleeping masked thief, relived that they had been getting some rest while he had as well. It wasn't a lot of sleep, but Shuichi thought he would be okay. When he had noticed the coat draped around both of their shoulders, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of the other caring for him that much. He had spent almost all the time he had since he had gotten here chasing after the person who was right next to him, yet at this moment he wanted to do nothing more than leave them be. The shorter person murmured something as Shuichi made great effort to hear, but it was still incoherent. They eventually came to a calm and nestled up against him with a sleeping content of a sigh. Though the smaller person was actually asleep, Shuichi could feel slight twitches from the other, just like before as kitten who was sleeping, having it's muscles get use to it's body, came to mind. 

The next time when the detective woke up, something felt rather off... Off as in, his coat was back on him and his hands didn't react to his movement. After waking himself up more, he could clearly acknowledge his cuffs around his belt were keeping his hand locked together behind his back, all the while the thief was messing with his cellphone nearby, casually leaning against the store's counter, " Hello Other Detective, you might want to swing by that one convenient store where they have the nice slushies to come save you're little sidekick. Well I mean, if you don't well, things could happen, ciao~!" He hung up and looked over to the cuffed Shuichi, walking back to him and gently tossing the phone into his lap. " I told you waiting might have been good. Got the door unstuck. Also thanks for not slipping the mask off~! Or else I would have woken up from the sudden scream of pepper spray shooting at you~! Just a safety precaution is all~!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes, trying to struggle out of the handcuffs that had bound his wrists together behind his back while looking up at the masked thief who was behind it all from his spot on the floor. While the thanks for not slipping the mask off was good and all, the potential threat behind it didn't make it any better. The mask... shot out pepper spray? Shuichi thought he shouldn't question anything at this point. He looked up at him, sighing softly, " Were the handcuffs really necessary?" He asked in a casual exasperated tone, no hostility towards the other present at all. " You could have just slipped away when you had gotten the door unstuck, you know..." 

Their hyper-activate and child like behavior came back full force after resting from using so much of it the previous hours. " Uhhh-yeeeah! Well I mean... You're not wrong. I could have just ran off, but I couldn't just up and abandon you like that. That'd be a dick move in some type of culture right? Sides, I've always wanted to mess with handcuffs when their not on me for a change, upupup~! But any-who~.... Thanks for spending company with me for the night, I really do appreciate it. So before I make my departure. Have another gift until next time Detective." They snickered under the fox mask, more than likely mimicking it's grin under it before tipping it up slightly, enough to where Shuichi could almost see their mouth. They leaned over and gave him a small peck on the forehead before sliding the mask back down, letting the grin tear at him in a mocking state. The fox bandit took out a small bottle and baby wipe, spraying it and gently patting the spot down to rid of anything left behind just in case. They jumped up and giggled, hopping to the now opening doors and running out small store. " Buh-bye Detective~!" 

Shuichi was stunned when he had received the quick peck on the forehead, his face turning red from the sudden intimate form of affection. He was frozen for a second until the cold feeling of the spray and the baby wipe hit the spot on his forehead where he was hit. He should have seen that coming from a mile away, but the kiss had stunned him. He was left in the dust when the masked leader he had spent the night with swiftly left the convenience store, leaving Shuichi with his complex thoughts on why on earth the thief would kiss him while being handcuffed on the cold tile floor." Ummm..." he mumbled softly a few after they had left him, far too late to be saying anything. It was a delayed reaction. " B-Bye...?" 

Thankfully no too much time passed by as Hajime, Ishimaru, and the robotic recruit, Kiibo dashed into the store. Hajime rushed over and nearly crashed into the door if it wasn't automated. He did however accidentally fall into the tile on his side since as he had practically slid from the ice outside getting encrusted on the bottom of his shoes, making him slip around on the marbled tile. " Son of a-!" A sudden moment later, he quickly got up and ran over, kneeling down to help Shuichi out from the cuffs, keys to it lay right in front of Shuichi but still out of reach for him." What the hell happen?! Are you okay?!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when he watched the superior detective literally slide into the store from the ice that had gotten on his shoes from the outside, watching him smack into the floor then come over to him and help him out of his handcuffs. " Yeah, I'm fine....!" He spoke with a soft yet reassuring smile on his face. He rubbed his wrists slightly when he had gotten out of the handcuffs, taking note of how sore they were. He then widened his eyes, quickly remembering what he had gotten from the masked thief the night before as a reward for dancing. " They exchanged with me again," He spoke, then pulling the precious and expensive orb out of his pocket. 

The robotic recruit widened his eyes at the sight of what was in Shuichi's hands, instantly recognizing it. " That's...! The case surrounding the stealing of that orb has never gotten solved before! No one knew where it ended up!... Until now, that is!" 

The thick browed male gasped out, his red eyes shrinking as his gaze caught the orb, " Oh my goodness! You retrieved the stolen and missing Crystal Ball of Wani's Followers! Ki-Kibbo's right! We've been looking for this for half a year! W-Wait... Wait... Exchanged?" Ishimaru asked, carefully picking it up and handing it to the robot who seemed to be ready for anything, which included having an evidence baggy on hand. 

Hajime helped Shuichi off of the cool tile and put under his own chin, giving a skeptical look to his partner, " An exchange again? For what if I may ask." He didn't want to press the shyer detective, but it was unfortunately part of his job. And of course he was worried all the same. 

Shuichi... had forgotten that he would probably have to tell then what the leader had wanted in exchange for the orb last night. It... It wouldn't be that bad to tell them, right? Even if it was just a tad bit embarrassing... While Kiibo had taken the orb carefully from the other detective and had pulled an evidence bag out and began to carefully place the orb inside, Shuichi had taken a deep breath to mentally prepare himself form the possible backlash from his coworkers... " Well... they... um..." He started to speak, looking off to the side, " They wanted to dance with me..." 

The brunette reeled back a bit, raising an eyebrow along with the spiky haired officer who had gone silent to hear about the exchange only to go to a baffled look written on his face. The superior blinked a few times, moving his head to the side as if confirming with someone else before his eyes went back to Shuichi with a rightfully questioning expression. " I-I... I'm sorry? What?" He didn't sound angry, just utterly confused and boggled out of his mind. 

Ishimaru repeated the answer, not fully aware if Hajime had heard him or not, " He said they wanted to dance with him-" 

" Yes Taka, I heard him." A small frown tugged at his lip from letting Ishimaru confirm with himself before looking back to his partner. 

Shuichi had kept looking down at the floor, until a few moments later after Hajime questioned it he looked back up towards him. He was thankful the superior detective didn't seem mad though, but was more flustered because of how confused he seemed though. " Th... They said they had wanted to dance with me in exchange for the orb... from the way they described it, I... I knew it would be amazing to get it back... so, I agreed...." He sighed, now more embarrassed from the reactions that he had gotten. 

Hajime soon helped the other up, still rather silent, again, no hint of anger or shame, just a mere... 'What the fuuuuck?' type of look on his face. " U-Uhm... You two, go see if you can find any clues, though I doubt it. I'm gonna' get Shuichi back to the office then home." The brunette sighed out, tugging his partner gently out of the store and into his patrol car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those DICE masks are powerful... They should be considering Miu made them with the supervision of Kazuichi.


	12. I Am Still Just A Rat In A Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haiji flips, Chiaki flips, Kokichi flips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware of telling of child abuse...  
> Also Tengan is from Dangan Ronpa ... 3? Idk, anime, never watched it, but I know he isn't what he seems.

The brunette sighed out, tugging his partner gently out of the store and into his patrol car. He clasped his hands and put them to his mouth, the early fogginess taking their toll from being called before his daily coffee, " So... They wanted to dance? In exchange for the orb...? I... I'm not sure what to say. I mean, given with how D.i.C.E. are, I shouldn't be surprised-yet I am. I-I'll handle Haiji, because he's going to be allll over you man." 

Shuichi had been pulled to the patrol car, getting inside of it with the superior detective and listening to everything he had to say. He sighed softly to himself when he was told Haiji would probably be all over him, somehow that part not surprising. " Thanks..." He mumbled with a soft smile on his face when Hajime told him that he'd handle Haiji. He then looked off to the side, " It... it was a bit strange. But then afterwards they didn't waste any time in giving me the orb." He spoke, leaving a lot of things that had happened during the dance and after he was given the orb out for a lot of reasons. Most of them being he didn't want the detective agency knowing about how quickly the mental state of the leader deteriorated last night because of being in an enclosed space. Or how they kissed his forehead... or how they shared a coat while they slept... that would definitely be more weird than just dancing. 

Hajime ran his fingers through his hair as the car started up, pulling out from the parking space and slowly going down the slightly slippery road to the station, " I can't believe that. Sure they typically play games with us if we want things back sometimes, but dancing? That's a new one. I'd hate to say, but ugh... Maybe The Leader likes you. If that's the case, I don't know if we can tell Haiji it was The Leader. He'd be even more on this case and press you for quite a while. And trust me, his interviewing is not a pleasant experience due to how easy to anger he is... That and stubbornness. But he might also have an idea to use you as bait to draw 'em out. They might be thieves and pranksters but they're smart. Damn smart." With a another sigh, he continued down the roads, slight fog from the early morning. " Fucker woke me up early, barley got dressed, haven't had my coffee, so if I start arguing with Haiji, just keep that in mind." 

Shuichi had listened to all of Hajime's advice on the topic, seeing as that Hajime knew a lot more on Haiji than Shuichi did from just being there for a few days. It would be no surprise that the leader had liked him, really, from all of the evidence that Hajime didn't know, it was clearly obvious that he was liked by the leader of probably one of the most popular gang, if not the most popular gang, in the whole town. He did want to avoid telling Haiji all that, like Hajime said. He really didn't want to be pressed for more details. He nodded at both of Hajime's statements before speaking a soft " Okay, thanks again." 

The two pulled up at the nearly empty lot of the station, Hajime carefully getting out, rubbing the now bruised and tender side that had collided into the hardy cooled flooring. With a crick of his neck and torso, he readied himself, " No problem. It's what partners are for... If you do want to tell him anything, I'll hold him back from any rash and sudden decisions man." 

He gave a soft worried yet somehow confident smile to Shuichi as they went through the main sliding doors. 

Chiaki who had been typing peeked from behind her usual desk, making her cat eared hoodie flop down off her hair, " I see you got him. Are you doing okay Shuichi?" She asked before giving Hajime a solid look, puffing her cheeks up, " And you?" 

" H-Haha, Chiaki, I'm fine, you didn't need to call me on the walkie-talkie." He rubbed the back of his neck to avoid the smaller girl's sudden feisty-ness. Where did this come from? 

Shuichi followed Hajime into the building and through the main door where they had seen Chiaki peek up from behind her usual desk to greet them and talk to the both. Had everyone knew what was going on with him then...? Anyway. Shuichi had looked at the interaction between the two of them, noticing that she was a little more feisty than usual...he didn't really know where it could have came from , so for now he just decided to push it off to the side and reply to her with a smile on his face, maybe even saving Hajime a little in the process. " I... I"m doing fine, thanks for asking, Chiaki." He spoke quickly. 

The light haired girl calmed down afterwards from Hajime's reply, but mostly from Shuichi's well being, " Oh... Whew, good. Anyways uhm... Hajime please don't start a fight or anything, if you do, you know I'll be forced to go in there and simmer you down mister." her cheeks inflated yet again as she pointed at him. 

The brunette scratched the side of his cheek, a red scarlet tint flowing over his cheeks from the embarrassment of being told out and scolded by a small sleepy girl with a cat eared hoodie. " I know..." He let out a defeated sigh before she gestured to the doors of hell... Or well that's what Haiji's doors suddenly felt like now. The older detective led the younger into the room of dread. 

Haiji sat at his desk, rubbing the side of his temple, " What the fresh living hell happen?" 

Shuichi had followed Hajime into the dreaded room of hell that made his heart race a little faster and that made the big ball of anxiety inside of him grow and grow. He looked at Haiji who was sitting at his desk, watching him rub the side of his temples in what seemed like confusion and frustration. “ W... Well....” he spoke softly, glancing off to the floor. He then thought he should at least try to make eye contact with his boss, so he lifted his head nervously and glanced over at him. “ A member of D.I.C.E had called me out at midnight to head over to the connivance store. Th-They then eventually gave me the orb.” 

" Right... And why exactly did they call you? How did they call you? W-Why didn't you tell anyone?!" Haiji slammed his usable hand onto the table before reeling himself back to restraining harshness, " Sorry... Sorry. I mean..." he sighed out before flicking his lighter to a newly obtained stick of tobacco. " Lemme' guess, if you had told anyone, you wouldn't have gotten any information. And if you had anyone go with you, trouble would have brewed, correct? If so, answer me the first two questions." 

Shuichi had tensed slightly at his harshness, even if he had apologized afterwards he was still on edge. He thought about how to pan out his reply, to get a minimal angry reaction out of him. And, to make sure he would leave a certain person out of this whole mess... Shuichi cleared his throat slightly before speaking " U-Um... well... the note was left for me on my bed when I had gotten home for the night... they had told me to meet there at midnight, saying that they 'might of something 'they' want.' The note also instructed to go alone and to tell no one. And, you're right... I didn't tell anyone in fear of a scuffle or in fear of not getting information." 

" Okay... But what did they want? Why did just hand it over? What did you two talk about? Did they say what their role in the group was about and lastly, this one's extremely important..." Haiji took in a deep heap of air to calm himself further to not snap at the new detective. " ... Why'd didn't you restrain them?" His eyes narrowed down to Shuichi, not enjoying the fact that Shuichi was in the same place as one of the members for more than an hour. Criminals like that in interrogations could spill out many things if he had the chance. 

Hajime lifted his hand, " U-Uhm sir-" 

" I'm asking Saihara, Hinata..." He gave a disapproving glare, making the other lower the statement that was tugging at his lips. 

Shuichi glanced over at Hajime, giving him a small smile to show that he appreciated him trying to help him get out of the situation. But part of him knew going into this that Haiji would only want to hear from the one who was there in person. He mustered up all of the courage he had currently possessed, knowing that he could pull of a lie if he really was in it 100%. So he did. He looked at Haiji in the eye and spoke. " They didn't want anything in particular for the orb, just that their leader had wanted to toy with me because I'm new to the town as a detective. And apparently calling me to a convenience store in the middle of the night during a winter storm was more than enough. They were very picky with their words, not saying anything that they didn't want to leak out including their role or position in the group. I had tried to restrain them but they had pulled out a switchblade and pressed it against my neck before I could react. While they did that, they had gotten my handcuffs of of my person and used them on me. They had tried to leave me there but the door to the outside was blocked because of the snow, so we both were stuck. They didn't want to take any chances so they had used a cloth to knock me out, which I can only assume was chloroform. I was forcefully woken up in the morning when the member had taken my phone and called Hajime because the door had gotten freed when the sun came out." 

The chief of the department leaned back in is large chair to take in the information that was given to him, trying add up some missing chunks but not getting far as to figuring out what was exactly going on. " Hrmf... Their leader wants to toy with you because you're new... They always do that shit. Well everything seems to check out..." He let out another heavy sigh, pushing the cigarette into his personal ash tray, snuffing out the small embers at the tip. " Go home and rest up... We'll see if we can find any clues remaining... This is going to be a pain in the ass considering our donator is coming to see me today... Hopefully D.I.C.E. didn't egg his house again..." He looked up to them, already neck high in work, " Go on, get..." He waved his fingers, signaling them to leave, which Hajime graciously accepted. Shuichi was more than relived when Haiji had bought the whole story that he had fed to him, thankful that his lying skills had developed and gotten way better over the years... even if that may be a bad trait to have per say. But it helped him out this time. He nodded when Haiji had told both of them to leave his office, quickly accepting the offer and making his way out of the big room. 

Once the doors were closed and both him and Hajime had walked away a little bit he let out a relieved sigh, his whole body un-tensing as the pressure of standing in front of and lying to his boss. Hajime walked over to Chiaki who now had two chairs for them, letting him sit down and groaning. The small girl looked to them, " At least he's super busy today and not in the mood to pry, or I would have heard more yelling. Anyways, here..." She offered the two coffee or hot cocoa she had gone to brew when they were done, Hajime thanking her and sipping a great amount to let the stress slide off of him. As Hajime relaxed with them, he stopped mid drink as his hazel eyes locked onto someone approaching them slowly. An elderly looking man with a large coat, sturdy cane of mahogany, and large spike of matted cream style of hair came their way, adjusting his glasses. 

Shuichi sat down in the other empty seat as he relaxed and de-stressed from everything that had happened since midnight. He took the warm drink and wrapped his fingers around the warm mug, letting the heat radiating into his fingers soothe him even if only slightly. In the time between his sips however, he saw Hajime glance over towards a person that was slowly approaching them. Shuichi took not of all of their definable features so he could quickly identify him in the feature, but the man wasn't someone he had seemed to meet before... or at least Shuichi didn't recognize him. 

Chiaki went into a sitting straight position instead of her normal slump over and type of sleeping position and waved to the elderly man, " Hello Mister Kazuo. Haiji will be with you in a few, we had something happen so, just let him wind down a bit, okay?" She got up and went off to get him a chair. 

The man nodded then craned his head to the side, eyeing Shuichi behind his glasses before smiling, " I haven't seen you around before." 

" New detective, Saihara Shuichi..." Hajime mumbled out, not stress free just yet, still a bit bitter. 

" Ahh, it's nice to meet you Saihara. I am Kazuo Tengan , I run the factory up around the hills a bit from town. The glorious factory and mansion that watches over this peaceful town... Well for the most part. Those blasted rapscallions seem to keep making a mess. I come around to donate here and there as my soon to have been wife would have wanted me to, god rest her soul." 

Shuichi looked up at the elderly man who had introduced himself, giving him a small and polite smile before greeting him, “ It’s nice to meet you too, sir.” He spoke kindly after listening to his story about the factory and about his wife, “ And thank you very much for being a donator. We’ve also been working on catching the people that have seemed to disturb your peace, rest assured.” 

Tengan fiddled with his beard but held his gentle smile to the detectives, " Ah it's no problem hehe, it's to keep the old good boys in this town up to code and what have you. I spare my money equally here, the orphanage, and to the wondrous institution out of town, those poor souls need all the help they can get." Hajime nodded, agreeing with the statement before Chiaki came back with a chair with her calming smile, making the elder put up a feeble looking hand and waving it down, " Oh not to worry, not to worry, I'm just fine standing." The light haired girl held onto the chair and shrugged a bit. Thankfully the chief's doors opened as Haiji came out, only to stop to see the old man. The injured man soon went by the small group, leading the elder away to talk about finances. 

Suddenly Chiaki's bright smile faltered, " I hate that guy..." 

Hajime lifted a palm to his forehead, " Chiaki not this again..." He groaned, not in the mood to deal with her shenanigans. 

" I swear, he's affiliated with institution's director and that guy is scum of the earth. I'm sure the guy tested on his own son!" 

" Ch-Chiaki, calm down. I told you to drop the whole conspiracy theories, it just gets you riled up and grumpy.. And puffy~." he smiled poking her puffed up cheeks, making her let out a irritated noise. " There's no record or files that say anything like that. All that happened we're troubles at home and he went on parole for a while. Nothing happened and his kid was put up for adoption, giving miss Hasegawa his rights and stuff. So calm down." 

Shuichi had thought of what Chiaki had said about the elderly bearded man that had just walked away, thinking the the claims she had made about him were vaguely familiar... he glanced up at Chiaki after thinking on it for a couple of seconds after Hajime had tried to pacify her thoughts. “ His son...” Shuichi had started to ask, “ Who was his son? What was his name?” 

The other detective looked to his partner with a small glare, like 'Oh no, you've done it now'. Soon this motivated Chiaki to gladly tell him, "Kimishun Daisachi. Use to have a file on him but someone came by before we worked here and erased the files permanently, along with several other random people in town that had no connection to one another. Lead detectives and Haiji were all over it when the old chief was in. If you want to know, I'd say go ask him or the directive at the institution, because well, we've got no files. What's peculiar is that Tengan doesn't like talking about his son... As for the mental institution guy, the guy's kid is Shingetsu Nagisa. I'm pretty sure he was a lab rat." 

" Chiaki, please... There's no records." Hajime rubbed the sides of his heads, migraine in the process of forking into his mind. 

Shuichi had nodded when he had heard Chiaki’s explanation of everything that had supposedly happened, even without a file to confirm it being present. There were a lot of things that seemed to have happened where the files around them seemingly disappeared or don’t exist here, he thought. The part about Nagisa being tested on was most likely true, he could even ask Maki about that. He also remembered last night when the leader of D.I.C.E had said they were used as a lab rat in the list of things he had in common with the orphanage kids, so that might fit well... and it would give them a motive to get back against the town that didn’t give them any justice... Shuichi had seemed spaced out in thought for a couple of minutes, deeming that he really needed to write down all of his thoughts somewhere about the topic so he could get his head straight. He then looked up at Chiaki, a semi-serious expression on his face that seemed to counter Hajime’s whole demeanor on the topic. It may be false, but the lead was too good not to follow. “ Is there anything else you can tell me? Rumors? Anything?” 

Hajime's brows rose, not expecting Shuichi to suddenly give into the conspiracy theory of Chiaki, but due to being moved from a big city to a small town could mess with people's minds easier that way. Words and rumors were things small towns thrived on and so urban legends would get around more for the locals. " Rumors suggest Tengan's soon to be wife was either killed by her kid or hit-men were hired to kill her. Another rumor is that the son is either still there, busted out, or deemed cured and given a false name for safety purposes so he could gain a job and be normal." She continued, " Other rumors surround that the director tested to push the limits of what a child can learn on his own kid, and tested on Daisachi with Harry Harlow's experiment, 'The Pit of Despair'. If I remember correctly in the '70's of America, Harlow's scientific career was spent studying maternal bonding, what he described as the 'nature of love'. Love wasn't a term in science, meaning it was only chemicals. These experiments involved rearing newborn 'total isolate' monkey with surrogate mothers, ranging from toweling-covered ones to ones that were wire but held milk bottles. The point of the experiments was to pinpoint the basis of the mother-child relationship, namely whether the infant primarily sought food or affection. The results always ended with the babies clinging to the cloth mother all day and only went to the other for food when needed. These mothers soon ranged to a machine that modeled abusive mothers by assaulting the baby monkeys with cold air or spikes to see if the baby would still come back... Unfortunately they did, no matter the abuse. Sometimes the babies would be placed in a play pen with things around them. If their 'mom' was there, they'd cling to her before overcoming their fear of the new area. Without the 'mom' around, they huddled into a corner. Same tests were run but with a small cage with a wall and a scary loud moving toy. With the 'mom', they'd cling to and sometimes confronted the toy. Without them, they'd hide behind the wall.

Harlow however became depressed once his wife passed away. After some shock therapy to deal with it, he went onto testing... Depression. He had already placed newly born monkeys in isolation chambers for up to one year, before moving them to what he dubbed, 'The Pit of Despair'. Sometimes he placed monkeys in the chamber alone, after they had bonded with their actual mothers, for up to ten weeks. Within a few days, they had stopped moving about and remained huddled in a corner. After 30 days, the 'total isolates', as they were called, were found to be enormously disturbed. After being isolated for a year, they barely moved, did not explore or play, and were incapable of having sexual relations. When placed with other monkeys for a daily play session, they were badly bullied. But testing this on a human without them being a new-born could be done in theory. Not sure how he'd get away with it, but isolating a young person for a long time could possibly be a thing, through other circumstances and situations. So it's not exactly a successor to 'The Pit of Despair', but it's still the basic principle to it." 

Shuichi had listened about the experimentation on Tengan's own child. The rumors around here in this town might prove to be very helpful then... especially the ones about where his son could be now. Shuichi had guessed that the child probably was deemed cured then blended in normally with society under a fake name, this would explain why all the files had been deleted. No need for a past identity when you have a new one. Now Shuichi just had to figure out if these rumors were true or not, but if they were, things started to piece together in his mind and add up. He would just need to figure out what name he goes by now, and that was probably the guy they had been looking for. Shuichi had predicted that, under another alias, Kimishun Daisachi was the leader of D.I.C.E.. Glancing over at Chiaki and gave her a soft smile after a rather long pause that he hadn't noticed. " Thanks for explaining it all to me." 

Hajime let out a sigh with a concerned face, " Be careful what you get into man. You've only been here for a bit, lots of people like to keep things hidden away, not saying they do or will, but they might not tell anything to a new guy from a big city. Dredging up the past isn't always a good thing, I would know. Not sure what you're thinking about doing, but... I guess if you need help, I'll do what I can." The brunette groaned a bit, not wanting leave his new partner, possibly loosing his job if he wasn't around while Shuichi ventured off. That was before he grumbled about how the conspiracy theorists had gained a new member... Though that was normally just Chiaki and some guy who the department thought was smoking weed for the longest time. 

Shuichi had smiled at Hajime's word that he would help if he could, nodding softly at his comment. Even if the superior detective seemed a little down about having someone on Chiaki's side. But as Shuichi saw it, it wasn't that bad. " Thanks, Hajime." He spoke softly with a small smile on his face, seconds before he had covered his mouth while he let out a small yawn. He didn't mean to be rude, wanting to hide his yawn. Its' just that all that had happened last night and early into the morning had fatigued Shuichi, more than he had originally thought. It was coming back to bite him. 

" Right, let's get you home." The older detective said, finally getting up and helping Shuichi out and to his home for the time being. 

At the peaceful abode, Kaito rushed to the home's door to open it up and pick up the sleepy detective, " Shuichi! There ya' are! Holy hell man, where'd you go?! We we're worried about ya' man! What kinda' friend would I be if I lost my sidekick and I wasn't even there to help!" Maki on the other hand, diligently walked over, much more quiet than the boastful astronaut in training. 

" K-Kait, Kaito, calm down... He seems fine. No cuts..." She trailed off as she began to gently poke and prod Shuichi in Kaito's arms, making sure he wasn't harmed. If she had found something, there'd be hell to pay in the largest of amounts. 

The purple haired hero whined, " Maki-Roll, stop poking at him, you're just makin' him squirm around-Ahh-hey!" He grunted and shifted as she began to poke Kaito's cheek instead, " Ahh-Kaede, send help!" he joked around as Maki's finger kept poking the two of them, mainly trying to get Shuichi to feel better emotionally. 

Shuichi was slightly stunned when Kaito had picked him up the minute he had walked through the door, trance amounts of sleepiness flickering away as his fight-or-flight mode kicked in from the sudden motion of being picked up. When Maki started to poke him, he was a little concerned. But, when she had started to poke Kaito he couldn't help but smile a bit. Kaede had walked into the room, widening her eyes slightly when she had seen Shuichi safe and sound at the door. She sighed in relief before walking up to Kaito and putting her hands on her hips, " Well, maybe she would stop poking you if you put Shuichi down, just a thought...!" 

" She's right you know." Maki said in her unwavering tone as usual, making Kaito give out a whine while Hajime kept by the door watching the strange interactions, slightly shaking his head to keep in any form of laughter, or else be poked as well. Kaito set the lighter male onto the couch before talking to Hajime who began to inform in on what had happened. Maki crouched near the couch and put the back of her hand onto his forehead, " No fever, that's good. So you weren't out in the cold. Where did you go? You had Kaito and Kaede worried all night long. I eventually helped her go to bed but Kaito kept awake being the 'man' of the house, and took it on himself to wait since it was hard even getting back home. Idiot was going to run all around out there. Called the police, the snow covered your tracks... We were very worried about you." She gave out a small sigh of concern as the blond came over to the two of them. 

Shuichi felt immensely guilty over the fact that his friends had gotten so worried over him being missing during the middle of the night. He looked down to the ground at his feet, barely able to make contact with either of the people standing in front of him. Kaede sat down next to Shuichi on the couch, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. " Look, I know you probably feel really bad about this, but you'll probably make matters worse by not telling us yourself what happened... not to be rude or anything, but... you kind of owe it to us for making us worry so much." Shuichi listened to Kaede, accepting the fact that what she had said had been right. He sighed softly, keeping his eyes low to the ground before speaking. " Sorry for making everyone worry like that... but I had gotten a note from D.I.C.E last night when we went out. The note said to come alone and not tell anyone... I was stuck in a heated convenience store the whole night." 

Maki's lips tugged at the corners as her eye narrowed to nothing in particular and gave a small growl from he throat, " Those damn thieves. Why the hell do they want to do with you?" She folded her arms, trying to process the reasoning of the inane group and their odd tendencies of crimes. " So... Let me get this straight, they gave you a note last night? When exactly? And besides that, going alone, though that was pretty stupid of you, but I do understand... But there's no evidence of any physical harm that I can make out. You're speaking, so nothing mentally or emotionally broken that I see. And yet, you stayed there all night with them? That's strange even for D.I.C.E standards." She spat out, but not angry at the sleepy detective, just suppressing her anger of the infamous group of hooligans. 

Shuichi was slightly upset at how upset Maki had seemed to be over the group, understandably so, but still frightening to say the least. He had nodded softly at all of Maki's statements. " Yeah... the whole situation is pretty weird. I'm almost positive the leader of the gang has in some shape and form taken a liking to me... I'm certain this won't be the last time something like this happens." 

Kaede huffed disappointingly at Shuichi's words crossing her arms " This better be the last time you're out all night though, I don't think we can take another night of worrying like that again Shuichi." 

The red eyed girl gave a small disgusted face for a quick moment, not wanting to think that the despicable gang's leader had taken a liking to Shuichi. Either they did like him or just wanted a rival. Either way didn't settle her mood. That was when the taller male came over after closing the door, sealing the frosty outside behind him. He sat on one of the couch's arms and threw off his galaxy printed jacket off and onto Shuichi to use as a makeshift blanket, " You just rest up man, we dun' need you to be all groggy from not gettin' any sleep." He gritted his teeth while his hand gripped into that of a fist, cursing the organization for toying with his friend. " Well, not much we can do for the moment. If ya' need anything, just lemme' know okay?" He gave a confident smile to his old childhood friend. 

Shuichi looked up at Kaito as he draped his coat over his shoulders, finding it surprisingly comfy. He smiled softly, nodding at Katio's request for him to get some well needed sleep and to come to him if he needed anything. Shuichi nodded softly, taking a moment to fully realize he wasn't alone in the big city anymore, that he had friends with him ow that would do anything to help him He liked this. " Thanks," Shuichi replied. " I will."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the apartments, the gigantic sized gentleman walked into one of the various 'homes' of the two buildings holding a weary and tired leader of evil. He crouched down to put Kokichi on a rugged and lumpy couch, resting his head on the somewhat flattened arm of it. He took off his usual coat and put it over the smaller male, easily fitting him as a large warmed up cozy blanket. " Kokichi home!" He called out quietly. 

Leon was the first to run over to check up on the gremlin. " Dude-where... were you?!" 

Kokichi groaned as Gonta carefully too off the mask, to reveal a very tired and disheveled Kokichi. " I just wanted to go dancing... Didn't think I'd get stuck in the stupid place. used one of the go to items Hagekure keeps around... So, nothing to important. Didn't get any blood, no scraps of hair or cloth. Nothing left behind... Except uhm... Shit, just get 'dad'." He grumbled out making the red head scratch his hair. 

" Ugh... Yo, Rantaro! he's home! He didn't leave anything but something might have happened!" 

Rantaro had heard Leon shout from the next room over, almost immediately stopping what he was doing to go check on Kokichi. he had been worrying since he didn't get home at the time he said he would, so of course he had went to see him when he was called to him. The green haired boy quickly walked into the room and over to the couch that Kokichi was laid down on, kneeling next to him and looking him over. He didn't see anything physically to worry about, so he looked up at Kokichi with a worried and disappointed face. " What took you so long to get back? What happened there, I thought it wasn't supposed to take very long?" 

The purple hair boy shut his eyes angrily, " The damn storm froze the doors and the guy who worked at the shop put up bars in case of us trying to rob 'em. Friggen' asshole..." He put his hands to his, stretching his lower lids down, mentally beating himself up for the most part. " So we got locked in and had to wait for fucking morning..." Kokichi huddled up a bit, going from blaming himself to just being pissed with himself, " Dammit! He saw my facade break for a little! Argh, a leader is suppose to be strong! Not some scared little kid!" he snarled before sitting up and shoving the red head away, " Move it Leon!" The older rebellious male nearly tripped as the smaller boy got off the couch and threw the coat onto Gonta's head. 

The giant moved the fabric out from his eyes, " But Kokichi-" 

" Just leave me alone!" He shouted, stomping away from them. 

Leon rolled his bright blue eyes, " Jeez... He's in one of those moods... Whose turn is it to talk him down?" 

Rantaro sighed " Don't you mean instead of 'who's turn is it to walk him down', more of 'who's going try and calm him down before we go and get Rantaro'?" He stood up, scratching the back of his head and putting one hand on his hips " Sorry, I just think that I should take this one. He seems pretty worked up this time, not to mention tired, so I better handle it straight out of the gate this time around." Rantaro looked up at Gonta with a small smile on his face, reaching up to pat his shoulder " I know he also didn't mean to throw the coat in your face, big guy. He's just to out of it right now to really process what he's doing." 

" It okay, Gonta understand. Kokichi just tired and grumpy. Gonta will fix something good to eat!" The big bug loving dork gave his friend a large smile, putting on his coat and going into the kitchen. 

Leon nodded, " Right, I'll go let the others know not to mess with him for a little bit. Good luck dude." He patted the avocado's back sincerely before getting up and searched for the other roommates in the two building's 'homes'. 

When Rantaro got to Kokichi's room, the little leader had huddled himself in the corner inside of his little pillow fort where he kept his bed, wanting the others to actually have better rest, but more importantly being hesitant to sleep on a bed again instead of just some futon with many pillows... And besides that, it had all his personal objects inside. Kokichi was busy laying there holding his monochrome stitched up bear. Ranataro could still recall the time Ibuki helped finished sewing it up only to get a better look at it and scream it was evil. Rantaro had seen Kokichi huddling himself in the little pillow fort he had made. Rantaro walked up to the pillow fort, sitting besides it instead of siting in it, letting Kokichi have his personal space he needed to calm down. He looked at the monochrome bear Kokichi was holding, remembering the fond memories that surrounded the stuffed animal. Rantaro then called out a small, " Hey," before starting to speak to him. " You don't have to talk but just listen, okay?" He took a deep breath " It's okay for a leader to show some vulnerability and weakness once in a while. That makes them more relatable, and even stronger. Because then everyone sees what the leader is trying to hide or what the leader is going through everyday in secret , and that just makes them think of strong the leader is. So, who cares if your facade slipped a little. If anything, you probably got that detective you like to be more interested in you, so he'll comply to your notes more. Which means you get to play this game of yours with him even more." 

Kokichi whined in his little hut of pillows and childish things, such as crayon drawings he kept with him, especially the ones he hung on the top to imitate stars and the swirling galaxy, something to help calm him down instead of a flat surface that could break and fall on him. He huffed out, " ... I guess so... I just don't want him to tell the others about it. If that happens, Haiji will defiantly use it against me, then I'd be found out, and then-" He cut himself off,, shaking the dreary thoughts out from his mind. " No, no... I don't think he'd do that. Too kind for that. The idiot put his coat on me back there because I was cold." He let the facts and saying of his old friend sink in until he could talk again, " Only tried to remove the mask once, didn't do it when I was asleep... He's sweet. Heh, I remember being like that, you remember right?" He chuckled glumly before sighing out some of his downing emotions. " Okay, okay... I know I can't fight you on that logic. So... Can you stay with me for a little? Y-You know, till I fall asleep?" 

The green haired boy had listened to Kokichi sort his thoughts out about the matter, listening also to his opinions in the detective. He was glad that the detective knew when to keep things personal, from the sounds of it. That just got Kokichi to calm down even more, which he was grateful for. Rantaro looked over to Kokichi when he had asked him to stay, happy to oblige to the request. " Yeah, of course." He spoke with smile on his face. " Do you want me to just sit outside your fortress here or do you want me to climb inside?" 

" Mrmmf, just nearby, go grab a book or game, doesn't matter... Thanks Rantaro." Kokichi called out from inside his medium sized tent, nesting in under a cover with his half ragged and half pristine teddy bear. He yawned out, " Monokuma can keep me company in here." It didn't take long until the little leader was tuckered out and fast asleep. A few minutes went by as the gentle behemoth came in quietly to set down some ramen near the tent, complete with some Panta, a napkin, and some chopsticks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi - Little Luck  
> Ouma - King Horse
> 
> Daisachi - Big Luck  
> Kimishun - King Good Horse/Fast Horse


	13. This Heart Of Mine, Is Just Some Broke Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More kids and Kokichi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me thrive ;w;

The next morning, Shuichi had figured he needed to do something really productive today. Because yesterday was just full of resting and napping. So, when he had woken up, he had called Hajime to get the okay on going over to the orphanage again to 'collect clues'. Half of that was correct, the other half of him just wanted to see the kids there again because he had such a good time last time. Shuichi had walked down to the kitchen, after he had gotten ready, planning to ask Maki to see if for sure he would be able to go with her to the orphanage again today. When Shuichi had gotten downstairs, Kaede was helping Maki make breakfast, like usual. She turned over to Shuichi and smiled. " Good morning, sleepy head!" 

Kaito was already up and ready as well, giving his big proud grin, " Hey sleepin' beauty's awake! Hope ya' got enough rest or I'll be makin' ya' run a track to the museum n' back!" He cracked out a chuckle, clearly happy to see his best friend back up instead of tired. 

The twisted hair girl lightly smacked Kaito's hand which was aiming to steal another pancake, with a cooled off spatula, making him rear it back and wave it while making a distressed noise. She gave a small smile, " Good to see you rested up." 

Shuichi had smiled when he had gotten all of the greetings from his friends just for waking up in the morning, chuckling softly to himself as he had watched Kaito getting smacked as a result from trying to steal some pancakes. " Thanks, everyone. Good morning to you too." He spoke before going over to the fridge, getting himself a plastic water bottle before sitting down at the table and starting to drink it slowly. He then looked up at Maki, forgetting what he was supposed to ask when he was greeted by everyone all of a sudden. " Hey Maki?" He began to ask softly, slightly nervous about what her reaction was going to be, " I was wondering maybe if I could... come with you to the orphanage today?" 

She peeked up a thin brow and shrugged, " Sure, sure. Just be ready in just a few. So either scarf your food like an animal or Kaito, or pack it up in some left over bento boxes." She smirked, walking past Kaito who looked up and appalled. 

" H-Hey! What the hell's that suppose to mean?! I dun' just scarf it down! I'm just a hardy eater is all! Right Kaede?" He grumbled to himself as a small tint of pink crossed his cheeks for being called out on. 

Kaede had laughed slightly when Maki had teased Kaito, finding the embarrassed look on his face pretty amusing. " Well, sometimes you do scarf things down. Espeeecially pancakes!" She giggled a little more after her statement. Shuichi had let out a soft chuckle from the interaction between them. He then stood up to grab some bento boxes to put the leftovers from the meal in, deciding that he wouldn't try to scarf down a whole plate of food at the moment. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry anyway. 

While Kaito let out a semi serious but mostly hilarious expression that Kaede and Shuichi brought to themselves to dub his 'This is art!' face, he yelled out, " AGH! I swear, you two!" A completely empty threat, but still making him goofy in the process. Maki let out an estranged giggle and soon left with the detective. 

At the orphanage, Jataro was immediately near the door as he seemed to be focused on his work of setting some ornaments and decorations, his back to the entrance. He heard the door open, along with the bristling cold and quickly clamored for his mask, putting it on and turning over, " Hi Miss Maki. Hi Mister Hips. Misses Hawegawa is in the laundry room. The others are somewhere else, I don't know... All I know is that these decorations smell like paint chips." 

Maki smiled, shaking her head a bit, patting him, " Thank you, I'll go see her then. Be good." She said before going off to put up her coat and walking off. This left Shuichi with the small and rather slow speaking boy... Which he had just now seen the back of his head. The child did have hair, but why the cover up? 

Shuichi had seen the back of Jataro's head as they had walked in, now curious as to why he had worn the mask to cover himself up like that... He guessed it had to do with some past trauma. He guessed that if he had tried to dig it up, and something had went wrong, then Maki would certainly injure him or kick him out for sure... So, he didn't think it was wise to bring it up unless Jataro himself had brought it up first. He looked at the ornaments and decorations that Jataro had, the ones that apparently smelled like paint chips before looking towards the masked boy with a small smile on his face. " So... Is it your job to set up the decorations and the ornaments?" He asked curiously. 

The grey eyes looked up to the other, Jataro putting up a hand with his usual over-sized sleeves to his chin, " I'd like to think so. Miss Hasegawa lets me, so I don't see why not. The others seem to like it. All these decorations make people feel happy. Sometimes I don't see how a piece of plastic is suppose to make you feel that way. Because, you know, when you think about it, most people just take plastic for granted and say it's expendable and have no problem smashing it into bits..." He trailed off as his eyes lowered onto a decoration he held up of a reindeer wit a sparkling nose. " I wish I was pretty and accepted for looking different like this thing. But all my face can do is make peoples eyeballs fall out and explode... Though the only ones not effected is Miss Hasegawa, Miss Maki, the others, Mister Haiji, and my mom... Maybe they have some type of face repellent immunity or like kryptonite?" He started pondering off to himself. 

Shuichi had looked down towards Jataro as he explained how he felt about hanging up the ornaments and decorations and also about how he felt about people accepting him. He guessed this is why he had worn his mask, because he was told his appearance would hurt people. He looked completely normal behind though, so nothing really seemed wrong with him...” Hmmm... well how do you test if people have this power to not be hurt by looking at you? Do you think you could test it on me? Who knows, I might have the immunity that the others have?” 

" Ohhh no, but what if your eyes pop out of your head and meeelt?! Then I'll hafta' explain to Big Sis Maki and Miss Hasegawa why your dead!" He gasped out, but soon stopped to process the thought of what did he really do in the past to test anyone? " Ohhh, wait..." His head tilted to the side, curiosity sprucing up in the mechanical kinks in his mind to get the gears running again. " Huh... Well, when you put it that way, they either saw me by accident or cuz' of the law to make sure I didn't have any gashes or something on my head for bugs to lay their eggs in..." The dulled eyes shifted around. " Alright but if something bad happens, I didn't warn you." He said making his fingers go up and down like kids would do at a campfire telling ghost stories. The small kid put his sleeved up hands to the mask and tugged the piece of stitched up leather off to reveal his true face... Honestly, he didn't look like just a normal kid... He looked much cuter considering Shuichi could fully see how large his eyes were and a finely groomed bit of a bowel cut. 

Shuichi was happy that Jataro was willing to take his mask of in front of Shuichi, seeing that there wasn’t anything wrong with him at all. In fact, he looked pretty cute. The detective smiled softly, looking over at him, “ See, my eyeballs are still intact!” He commented, trying to explain why he wasn’t ‘affected’. He also didn’t want to completely confuse the boy and tell him that he was lied to...He thought for a moment before thinking, “ Hmmm.... maybe you can control your own powers? Maybe if you want to make people be affected by your face you have to really think hard about it? But if you don’t want them to get hurt, then everything turns out fine?” 

Jataro blinked a few times and patted his own peach cheeks to feel how surprisingly smooth his face was, " Whoaaa, maybe you're right! You're not dead and your eyes are still there!" The small latchkey kid gasped out and flailed his sleeves about happily, letting them flap about as he stamped his feet in place, feeling relatively happy for once. He let out a small childish sequel of joy which caused a certain blue haired boy to walk in. Shuichi had smiled happily and chuckled softly to see the small boy so happy over being able to freely take his mask off and have people see his face for once. When the unmasked boy ran away to go tell Maki about all of this, he hoped Maki wouldn’t be upset by it... even if it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

" Ugh, what is that noise-Huh?" Nagisa's expression turned from discomfort and annoyance to confusion when he saw the two. 

Jataro stopped his merry little trot and smiled. " Hey Nagisa! I've got powers that can make people's eyes fall out or to stay in their head!" Jataro bounced up and down, making the blue haired boy sigh but smile lightly. " I gotta' tell Big Sis Maki about this~!" And soon the boy ran off holding his precious mask to spread the news. 

" ... So, I see you're back." He finally came to acknowledge the detective. 

Shuichi then turned his attention to Nagisa, a small smile on his face as he nodded, “ Yeah, I’m back.” He spoke. 

The calculating boy squinted at him a bit, judging over him is if he we're a young adult as well. " Well since you're here, Monaca is sleeping, Jataro's well... off. Kotoko is in the kitchen and Masaru is skipping helping me put up some books, so you might as well." Though Monaca had given the word, Nagisa still didn't fully accept the detective quite yet. Though he was allowing him to help considering he had just helped the masked boy. With that being said, he led the navy blue haired detective into the small library room where many books were all over the place, aside from a large amount on a desk neatly on top of another. Shuichi had nodded at his explanation of where all the other kids were, and decided along with him that it would be best to follow the young boy to the library. As a gut instinct, the detective could tell that Nagisa didn't exactly seem to like him very much. Or at the least, he didn't trust him. So, he was determined to gain trust in the blue haired boy. More for personal reasons rather than reasons pertaining to the case he was investigating. But, if he just so happened to learn more about the boy, he wouldn't mind at all. So, Shuichi followed Nagisa into the library and saw the large amount of books that were scattered all over the place, definitely noting that the books really did need cleaning up... 

Eventually the two managed to straighten the place up, letting Maki wonder in with some snacks and lemonade right as the two finished, placing the food and rinks from a tray and onto a cleared off table. She didn't say anything due to how busy the two seemed and left quietly to check on the other children. Nagisa gave out a small sigh before resting at the table, pulling out two chairs for them both. He sat down and snatched up one of the orderly books in the nice stack and flipped to a bookmarked page. The child scooped up one of the glasses and took a long needed sip, " Thank you..." He begrudgingly said. 

Shuichi had smiled softly when the boy had said thank you, happy that he at least got some form of approval out of him. Even if the thank you seemed a little forced, he knew that he meant well. " It's no problem...!" He spoke with a smile. He sat down on the chair at the cleared out table, the one that Nagisa had pulled out for him. He looked at the food and drinks that had been set out for them, deciding to take one of the glasses and sip at it a little. He decided that he wasn't very hungry at the moment, even if he didn't eat breakfast earlier. 

The blue hair haired boy looked over to him and rolled his equally blue eyes, " If you want to talk about anything let me know. If not, don't talk and just enjoy your stay. If you're not hungry or thirsty then go help out someone or play with the others." For such a young kid he was fairly intimidating, acting much older than he really was. It was like a business prodigy stuck inside a small child's body. He wasn't like the others in the slightest. Taking care of them, watching over them, cleaning up, not even playing around or making jokes... 

Shuichi looked over to the blue haired boy, noticing that he definitely didn't like to mess around and really got to the heart of things. He didn't want to leave the boy alone, really wanting to get to know him. But, he wasn't exactly sure what to talk about that might interest him. " So... is there anything you enjoy to do? It seems like everyone else has something they like to do, but I haven't really learned yours yet. You're always taking care of everyone, do you ever have time to yourself...?" He asked hesitantly, not really knowing how to bring up a subject of conversation... 

Nagisa took another sip from the beverage he obtained and looked over to the other with the same expressionless look on his face, acting-well not upset or bored, just sophisticated, like he was trying to keep his normal standards up to a work office. " ... I like reading books. It's what I was brought up to do and the only thing that let me escape from reality... At least half of the books I use to read. Now I get as many books as I want with intricate stories that let me delve into different adventures. I'm fine with taking care of myself, that way I don't need to fill in anyone's quota, and I have time to myself when I get that time, much like how Miss Maki does when she goes home." 

Shuichi had nodded softly at Nagisa’s explanation of how he functions, giving him a small smile. It seemed like he could slightly relate to this boy a little, at least about the reading books part. “ When I was about your age... and not to sound tacky or old or anything like that, I was pretty into books too. Books definitely are good tools to get your mind off of other things and to ignore other things...” He cleared his throat slightly, a nervous smile on his face “ So, um, what kinds of books do you read normally?” 

The young boy chuckled, finding amusement in imagining Shuichi reading books at his age, almost lie he couldn't believe or relate to such a thought. " Whichever that lets me explore away from having to learn math, political studies, economics, history, or trying to teach you how to read... So I guess any would do, be it fantasy, sci-fi, horror, adventure, drama, action, romance-..." He paused and coughed a bit, accidentally letting out some things he'd rather not have anyone know about, " Erm... Comedy, fiction with non-fiction settings, things like that." 

Shuichi had smiled and chuckled when the boy had coughed after, what Shuichi could guess, too much was said about his preferences in reading. He then nodded softly. " So, anything fictional then? Sounds pretty entertaining. What are some good books you've read lately? I bet I've at least heard of or read one of them. I may not have a lot of free time to read anymore, but I do enjoy a good book once in a while. Especially when I lived out in the city." He spoke, getting more open and less awkward with the blue haired boy because they both seemed to have something in common to talk about. 

The calculated boy showed a small smile as Shuichi didn't judge him and even went on to talking about how he enjoyed the papers of writing, letting imagination take off. " Heh... Well, there's MacBeth, Of Rats and Men, Caste of Montecrista, Lord of the necklace, To Kill a Blue-Jay, The Thirst Games, The Wondrous Gatsy..." He trailed n a few others, some being teenage levels, and some being in high-school levels. All Shuichi knew, is that this kid was reading far beyond what a child his age should be reading. Soon he seemed much more relaxed as he talked about various books he had real, contrasting on some that Shuichi had read, hearing what he had enjoyed or not in the books. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when he listed off the books he had read and enjoyed, remembering reading most of those either as a school project in high school or on his own time... he really was into the classics it seems. Shuichi had started to discuss the books with him, what he lied about the books they had both read and some of the choices he really couldn't care for. He also then started to list off other books that he thought the young boy might find interesting, at his reading level and maturity of course. Like 'Finishers Game' , 'The Taker', and the 'Pierce Jackman' series. Shuichi even said that he had owned copies of said books he recommended and could definitely bring the over or have Maki bring them to him. 

Some time went by and Shuichi was finally able to get the blue hired boy excited, finally getting to converse with someone who enjoyed and read the books as he did. Hasegawa seemed to also enjoy a book, but ever so often, finding someone who knew about the different books out there made Nagisa further respect the shy detective, managing to give the older male a sincere smile. He had managed to draw him out of his shell of not trusting and into a friendly zone. He was also pretty hyped up once Shuichi mentioned tat he could borrow and read some of his literature and what he recommended. " Okay, okay, you're going to be jealous... But, heh, I got to meet the writer of Blue Thread from the Scarred Mountain. Fukawa Toko herself in person! It was the first book I got when I came here!" 

Shuichi was happy that he had gotten the closed off boy to finally come out of his shell to him, happy that they had a shared interest that they could bond over. When Nagisa has told him about meeting the famous author, his jaw opened slightly. “ Whoa... That’s pretty cool! She’s a really good author! I wish I could have met her in person...” 

" You still can, she works at the library nearby. I just wish I had met her in another matter..." The blue boy said sheepishly, his eyes averting from Shuichi like the detective did quite frequently with others. " It would have been nice instead of the circumstances of how we met another."`His bright blue hued eyes focused on nothing, but merely on the past. 

Shuichi smiled softly, thoroughly recognizing how Nagisa has shifted his gaze from Shuichi has he spoke. He recognized that very well. He decided he had gained the trust of the blue haired boy enough to ask him a question about things that had happened “ Well... what circumstances did you meet in?” He asked gently. 

Nagisa looked up to the detective, " ..... I met her in a mental institution. She got cured four years before I was relocated here." His eyes narrowed as he contemplated what to answer with or if Shuichi had other questions, sensing they would come. That's what adults did. They questioned, But the boy knew how to go against and how far to answer them. So he put on his childish setting like he had with the whole out look about the books. 

Shuichi had nodded at Nagisa’s answer, definitely curious about the whole thing and had wanted to know more about it. Like how the two of them met there in the first place. But, he figured it was none of his business in the first place. And, if Nagisa truly wanted him to know, he would tell him. “ Hmmm...well, if she works as the library maybe we could go by and say hi to her! So your memories surrounding her don’t have to be negative...!” 

The other blinked then sighed, " I mean I could, but I'd much rather not intrude on her or anyone else I knew there. I was only able to talk to her when I had to study literature, novels, reading sophisticated words, and writing to match with my intelligence to be made into that of a prodigy. I want the people I knew from there to just live their lives without seeing me or another and start recalling the horrors that my father permitted and covered up." So the kid did know about 'others' besides the writer... meaning he could have possibly known the person in question that Shuichi was looking for. 

Something clicked in Shuichi’s brain when he had realized that it was entirely possible that the boy in front of him could know of the person he might be looking for. But, there was a chance if he asked questions he might be found out as a detective... He really had to choose his wording very carefully so he didn’t blow his cover. Shuichi asked, taking the slow approach, “ So, did most people stay in the town or did people move out of town after they were released? I mean, if you want to tell me that is.” 

The quiet boy nodded, his eyes drifting to the snacks brought to them and picked a cheese cracker, munching on it. Once swallowed he placed onto on a small napkin to keep the crumbs on. " Most people would stay there, 'uncured'. It's not all bad being there. Much like how it wasn't for Fukawa. Health, daily treatments for most people, pretty lax except for... a few areas. But the ones I know who were cured moved here due to it being the closer town. Some may have moved to the city or somewhere else. So in that regard, yes, most of them did." 

Shuichi had nodded when he had gotten his answer, wondering if it would be possible at all to press further onto the subject without the boy getting suspicious. He hoped he could, because if he did, it would be a huge advancement in the case. “ Do you ever see anyone else that moved here that you knew or talked to from the institution? Besides Fukawa?” 

Though the brilliant child knew where he was getting at, he wouldn't lie, but he wouldn't let the detective know how fully aware he really was. " A few, but they were just normal people to me, not boring but not interesting enough except for one. His name was Daisachi... Or well, I think that was his name. We only ever saw each other a few times, but I did get to talk to him more than see him. Of course that stopped once 'father' saw me sneaking near his room..." He had spat out a vile of poison once he brought up his father, spewing his name like slander. 

Daisachi! Shuichi had hit the gold mind for sure. But, he didn’t want to talk about anything that Nagisa wasn’t comfortable talking about. He also didn’t want the boy to catch on very well, which the detective knew he was capable of. Shuichi knew slightly about the ‘father’ Nagisa was speaking of, but acted like he had no idea. He raised a brow slightly, “ I’m guessing from contextual clues that you don’t like your father very much. But, there be a reason why your father wouldn’t want you to speak with him...?” 

Nagisa inhaled a copious amount of air before exhaling it out, knowing this would pop up at some point. But he reminded himself he wasn't at his old home or the facility anymore. He didn't have to give the highest of expectations anymore, he was now free from those bonds. He smirked, gaining confidence in that reason alone, " Don't like is a hard, hard, and very strong way to look at it. That doesn't even compare my feelings to him. The reason 'Dad' didn't want me to talk to him was because he, himself, was another 'experiment'. Two people, who weren't deemed 'people' conversing is always a bad thing. Two tools of psychology hidden in a place where there is good and healthy coping. Out of everyone there, what's wrong with only two people slipping under the radar?" 

Shuichi listened to Nagisa’s explanation of the situation, understanding some of his intense feelings harbored for the whole experience. He nodded to show the boy that he was listening to his words and so that he was actively engaged in the conversation without speaking. “ Well,” He started to speak softly, looking at the boy “ Do you know where he is now? Or did your ‘father’ manage to keep his whereabouts unknown even up to today?” 

The younger boy let out a subtle yet dark laughter, " Hehehe... My 'father' is lucky he still has his damned job. Once I was rescued and Daisachi was 'cured', he's restricted in knowing where we are, though he could care less of us. We were both failed experiments, why go after something that's not even worth it in the end? Daisachi covered up his tracks, but I do know where he is, or rather where he's hidden." The boy's eyes lit up with fierce confidence and a smug smile on his face, " However, why would I tell you? Don't get me wrong Detective feminine hips, but I don't trust anyone. Only people I can trust are but a select few. Even Miss Maki, I don't trust to the fullest extent. You can do what you want to me, but I'm always loyal to my friends. Hypothetically, even if I knew someone from D.I.C.E. was, I wouldn't answer to you, Haiji, not even 'father'. Because quite simply." He chuckled bitterly yet happily at the same time, " I don't need to prove my expectations to anyone's standards anymore. So no matter what, you're not getting the answer... But if you want, I can answer any other questions about him." And just like that he went back to the sophisticated and civil child he was, sipping his drink and fully enamored with what 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly from the younger boy’s reply. He wasn’t expecting something like this from him, but of course, Shuichi should have knew better. However, there were multiple questions Shuichi could ask that could bypass his ‘any other question’ statement. Like the appearance of Daisachi, his occupation, if he lives alone, what kind of building he lives in, if he even has a home...even more questions such as those that could help pinpoint the location of Daisachi but not exactly saying his location. But, Shuichi new not to underestimate the other boy. So, even if he tried to ask those questions he probably wouldn’t get any closer to finding his location. It probably wasn’t best to press on the issue. After a few moments of Shuichi’s stunned silence, he smiled softly and let out a soft chuckle. “ You... You’re really wise. More wise than some of the adults I know.” He then took a pause in speaking before continuing on, “ So... I guess my only question would be; Do you want to borrow one book at a time or do you want to borrow a few books at the same time?” 

The other boy gazed at him, slightly dreading he'd find some round about way once he said 'any other questions', bitterly scolding himself from the inside at how much of a foolish and child-like wording he had just said. But in the end, his own eyes widened instead, not expecting the detective to be so cordial... Usually adults always wanted to press further, push him, have high expectations until he finally gave out. Shuichi however didn't. It was new and while it pleased him, it also startled and scared him a bit. He put an elbow onto the chair's arm so that his hand could rest on his chin, fingers hiding his mouth while he avoided eye contact. " O-One book w-would... Would be n-nice. That way I can-can look forward to seeing you..." He didn't sound frightful, just confused and timid like someone holding a hand to an animal for them to smell to see if the person was okay to let them be pet. 

Shuichi had smiled more at the young boy’s flustered reaction, now being able to see more of himself in the other boy as well. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly after the statement. Not a malicious chuckle, or a chuckle that was laughing at him. It was more of just a pleasant feeling that he got from the way that the boy seemed to speak to him in a high regard. And how the boy could go from being very serious and adult like to almost child-like in almost an instant. Shuichi then nodded in response “ Okay. I’ll start by bringing one book over then.” 

" T-Thank you..." He gave out a loud sigh before tuning back to Shuichi again, " I guess you're not as bad as I suspected. Still not telling you who, where, face, voice, size, age. But if you ever need to know the how and why, let me know in the future." 

That was when, as if on time the older lady walked in, " Ohh, Sweetchi it's nice to see you again. it seems like you're getting along with Little Nagisa here, hoho, now that's a sweet boy! Now if you don't mind... Ehh, Masaru is running in the snow and well I need some help fetching him." She chuckled out, feeling sorry for putting him to the task.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rantaro was sitting at the table in the apartment in the building that was technically Kokichi’s. He seemed to be focus in what he was doing at the moment, carefully using the small brush to delicately spread polish on the nail bed of the purple haired boy. Rantaro had offered to paint Kokichi’s nails as a way to cheer him up after what had happened, knowing that even if he was a little better, this would help more. He spoke softly while he was working to put on the clear base coat though, being able to multi-task. “ So, are you going to let me pick another color for you today or do you just want purple and black like usual? I got a new navy blue color the other day that I think you would enjoy...” Rantaro pulled away from the other’s nails for a second, grabbing the bottle of navy blue nail polish out from his basket of supplies. It strangely looked like the hair color of the detective that had peaked the purple haired boy’s interest quite a bit. 

The younger boy blushed, out of all the people in the buildings, the only one who ever saw any pure emotion was always Rantaro. The lime green haired male was much of an older brother to Kokichi, ever since they first met he was always there for him. He had started trying to go for a possible relationship, but that all ended swiftly one day and he had no one with him. The next best thing was like a brother, so he playfully waved his other hand, " Ptth! Oh shut uuuup~!" He giggled but did nod in agreement to try the new color on. He watched the brush dip into the blue hue color and as it started to brandish his nails. He smiled brightly, " Thanks for calling Teruteru earlier. Heh, but I will need to get there at least to help just a bit, so it'd be nice to hurry this up." Kokichi was always pretty impatient, wanting to go and move around, so unlike his friend's demeanor. 

Rantaro had a smile on his face as he painted the new blue hue onto the other’s nails, holding his hand still despite his impatient nature. “ This takes time, calm down.” He spoke firmly while moving onto the next nail “And if you move around while I’m trying to paint and mess me up, then we’ll have to start all over again, which will just take longer.” He sighed softly, “ It’s ready when it’s ready. But I promise you’ll be there in time to help out.” He then had a soft grin on his face as he spoke, teasing the purple haired boy a little to get a reaction out of him. “ Now, would you like me to put a small white heart on your thumbnail because of the color?” 

Kokichi stopped jittering his leg a bit as it rested on his other to stop being as shaky, but once he asked about the hearts the purple imp thought for a moment. Rantaro did wondrous designs, thus his job at the mall was pedicures after all. " I think that'd look nice." He blurted out, not even paying attention, it came naturally as he thought about it. That was until his mind retraced and heard himself hear what he just said. This made the lavender haired male raise a brow, just witnessing something like an out of body experience. Why the hell did he answer that automatically as thought about it? He peered over his shoulder and glared at his stuffed animal, " Oh would you shut up! I do not have a crush! Damn bear..." 

Rantaro didn’t question the purple haired boy glancing over his shoulder at the stuffed animal, pretty use to the whole thing by now. But that also raised the question of did Kokichi actually have a crush on the detective...? It was entirely possible... but it would just be inconvenient. He did smile softly as he finished putting the color on all of his fingers. He then got out some white nail polish and a small detail tool, beginning to put a small heart on his nail as requested. Rantaro then began to talk again, this time about the detective. “ What do you really think about Shuichi though?” He asked calmly, “ And Be honest.” 

The other's eyes widened a bit, mentally cursing himself from having developed a dilemma with talking to a stuffed, raggedy, crudely stitched up bear. He gulped and began to bite at his lower lip. Out of everyone, he could never find it in himself to lie to the other boy, making him hesitate and trying his best to tuck into his scarf to hide his expression. Out of the many times he tried to lie to Rantaro, he never could for some reason, possibly because he met him before the lying was needed for love, care, and freedom. He mumbled out under the bright stripped scarf, " H-He's... Different. He's sweet, has yet to get pissed off at me, he didn't even try lifting up my mask more than once-for god's sake, he put his coat on me at the store so I could heat up. Didn't attack me with a taser-he's... interesting." He finally sighed out. 

Rantaro had smiled when Kokichi had spilled a lot about how he felt for the other boy, picking up some signals on how the purple haired boy might truly feel for the detective, just not knowing it fully yet. The nervousness to speak about it, biting his lower lip, tucking into his scarf...he was acting shy about him, unlike the other people he talks about to him. Rantaro put the small detail took away and grabbed a clear nail polish while speaking to Kokichi, glancing at him slightly. “ Interesting? Is that how you would describe him?” He grinned, “ Because to me, it seems like he’s more than that in your eyes.” 

Kokichi tried putting his heinous scarf up even more much like the robot who worked at the department that he would tease when given the time. Sure Kiibo was revolutionary and seemingly had emotion, which made him interesting, though sometimes he seemed a little too human, which made him wanting to pester the poor thing. Great now he was dwelling on that, shit, now he felt like a dick, picking on someone as the bullies in school did to him. He shook his head in protest of thinking and focused solely on the next thing, " Auuugh, Rantaaaaro!" He whined out. 

Rantaro chuckled slightly at Kokichi’s reaction, putting the finishing clear coat on top of his nails to seal everything in and make them last longer. “ So, I guess my assumption was right then if you’re so embarrassed about it~.” He spoke, now purposefully painting slower to get to talk to the purple haired boy more. “What are you going to do about it then?” The avocado boy asked, “ Are you even going to do anything about it at all? It might put you in danger, but do the pros out weight the cons?” 

That was when the purple trouble-maker paused, his fingers no longer quivering from being impatient and instead wrapped up in his own little crazy mind. Would he be taken in? Would he go back to that place? What would happen to D.I.C.E.? What if Shuichi found out? What if he became alone again? He soon smirked as a lavender eye twitched, " H-hehehe-nishishi-Ahahahaha!" He forced himself to put on a grin, still rocky after the previous day, " Rantaro, Rantaro, Rantaro... Don't you know? I'll always be alone in this world." He stared at the other, his forced smile melding into a real one, " I've told you that many, many times~! I can't fall for him~! It's impossible! He's just a new toy to play with until he moves out, gets boring, or broken. I'm just playing the part of the villain. Yeah, he's sweet, but soon he'll be just like the others, it only takes time." It was hard to tell if he was acting at this point or not, but he did always deem himself to being alone despite his ragtag family. 

Rantaro hated when Kokichi had gotten into some moods like this, when he couldn’t tell what was artificial and what was real. He didn’t hate it in the sense that the other was annoying, of course, but he hated seeing how damaged from everything that the boy really was. It made him upset. But, in the past no matter what he said about it the purple haired trouble-maker couldn’t seem to be swayed, so the green haired boy had to pick and choose his battles. He didn’t know if this was a battle he would want to fight today. Rantaro sighed softly, finishing up some final touches on the painted nails. “ If you say so. But remember, I’m here to listen if you need anything. Even if you think you’re alone.” He put the cap on the nail polish, “ Now, sit here for about ten more minutes to let them dry. You’re lucky I used the fast-dry stuff.” 

The casual non-maniacal smile faltered onto his face. Yes he seemed happy to get out of the conversation, but angry and rather upset that he answered Rantaro's question in a way that both weren't happy with. He let out a relatively quite sigh and examined his now polished nails, admiring the contrast of colors that were put on so daintily. " I know, you'll be here, thanks Rantaro..." He spoke softly before his usual mischievous and seemingly care-free side erupted with a brighter smile, " Ten minutes?! Caaan do, you hunk of man you! And double thanks for making me feel like such a lucky girl~! This'll be done in no time!" he snickered, holding his arms like a bird, letting the air harden the smoothed polish. 

Rantaro smiled when the small boy’s normal energetic and care-free side popped out once again, happy to see that side of him again. He started to gather all of the things from the table back into the basket that he had kept all of his nail decoration supplies in. Let’s just say he had a decently sized collection. “ It’s no problem at all,” He spoke, “ Make sure you say hi to Teruteru for me when you get to work. And try not to give him anymore of a reason to worry about you.” 

The boy sat there and saluted, unfortunately making some of the fresh paint flick onto his cheek, " You've got it-oh hehe, whoops." He giggled, his peppy side now taking back control. After the coats of paint had dried, Kokichi got up and snagged a small backpack, stuffing his adored teddy into it, having it's head poke out, as if it needed to breath instead of being cramped into a tiny space. Kokichi would normally take the bear with him when he had been upset, giving him comfort in the oddest of ways. He quickly changed clothing and popped on his skates, making his way past the rooms and to the stairs, where the munchkin sat on slippery but cold railing, " Whooo-Ahh-AHH! Fuck-Shit! Ah-cold!" 

Leon had raised a fiery brow when the leader ran by and watched from the window, shaking his head, " No matter how many times, he never remembers the stairs and rail are cold as tits." 

The small blonde piqued up, " Whose tits have you been feeling?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi isn't being that bratty proud of ' I can't fall in love', like a little kid would say. There is something more to it...


	14. This Is Gonna Be Fun, This Is Gonna Be Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi has nothing better to do...Or does he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here comes Monokuma

Shuichi had left the orphanage only moments ago, knowing he shouldn’t overstay his welcome. Plus, he knew he would go back there soon anyway with a book in tow. For now... he didn’t really know where else to go. He didn’t really want to go home, so where else was there to go... well, he could always go to the diner... Shuichi found himself then walking to the familiar diner, pulling his coat over his ears slightly so he wouldn’t get frost bitten. Once he had got to the familiar place he slowly opened the door and stepped inside, letting the warm air from the building relax him slightly. As soon as he walked in, the first thing his golden amber eyes saw were the bright purple ones of Kokichi, grinning, catching the detective off guard, this in turn making the imp giggle out, " Nishishi~! Hiii mister Detective~!" The scamp rolled back to let Shuichi walk in properly, " Huh..." He rested a hand to his cheek, slowly skating around the slightly older boy, " Ooooh, are you here by yourself? No Hajime? No Maki? Woahoho, getting a bit bolder I see~!" Another giggle was let out. Before anything else, a glimpse of a newly acquired backpack was seen on the other's back with a teddy bear's head protruding out. It seemed like an old worn out polar bear of some sort, however once Kokichi turned around humming to himself, was when Shuichi saw the almost pristine black velvet like side with a heinous grin and the same evil crimson eye D.I.C.E. accustomed themselves to. 

Shuichi had gotten a little startled by the sudden appearance of Kokichi in front of him, a bit flustered by the fact that he had pointed out that he had came by himself today instead of with someone else. It was a bold choice, now that he had thought of it... before he didn’t really think much about it. He watched as Kokichi slowly skated around him, seeing the backpack that was strapped securely onto his back. He saw the same crimson eye detail poking out of the top of the backpack, coming from a monochrome teddy bear... this had to be a coincidence. Right? Shuichi mumbled softly, “ U-Um...” He opened his mouth to say something about it, but then he stopped himself mid-sentence, deciding not to bring it up. “ N-Nevermind.” 

The waiter looked over his scarf and shoulder, grinning deviously as usual, " Hmm~? Never mind about what? Ohh! You mean Monokuma! Nishishi~!" He giggled before taking Shuichi by the hand noticing the sudden fluster from the detective, dragging him over to a spot that was away from most people, though given it was before the rush hour would hit. The purple imp set the backpack down and pulled out the monochrome bear, holding it in his arms, " I needed a quick pick me up, and the only one who can always be with me is this lil' fella'~! Now I know what you're thinking, he looks like those D.I.C.E. fuckers, well funny story on that. One day he went missing, hell even asked your boss to help, course he didn't help, buuut eventually I got him back as some twisted sewn up monstrosity from D.I.C.E. as a birthday gift. Why? I don't know, those guys are a bunch of freaks." He huffed out a bit, seeming bitter, but if he was part of D.I.C.E. he must have been putting up a false face, but again it was difficult to tell in all honesty. " Like seriously, who the hell would put their damn insignia on someone else's thing?" His eyes shifted around as he scowled, " To frame obviously... If someone you're looking for has something that gives off the aura of something, then it's theirs and their affiliated with criminals...That's what Haiji thinks anyways." 

Shuichi had listened to Kokichi after he was dragged out to the part of the restaurant where there was less people. He had to admit, it was exactly like the purple haired boy had said. It was pretty suspicious to have the bear given to him and in his possession, and the story behind it seemed kind of suspicious... but Shuichi could find it believable. For now at least. It was difficult to tell if the story was a lie or it it was truth anyway. Shuichi had nodded softly at Kokichi’s explanation of it. “ Well... besides the whole D.I.C.E insignia on it, it’s pretty cute that you bring it with you when you need a pick me up.” Shuichi froze after speaking. This is why Shuichi thought things through before speaking, so he wouldn’t say things like that. He widened his eyes, a bright blush on his face before waving his hands in front of his face “ A-Ah! U-Um! I mean-!“ 

For just a quick moment, Shuichi's calculating and investigating eyes witnessed the smallest crack in the trouble-maker's mask. He hesitated for just a split-second from the comment of the word 'cute' used on him, making him have a shade of pink before it went away as fast as it came. He small stunted expression slid into the chaotic smile he wore as a necessity, " Cute huh~? Heh, that's a first, most people just assume, judge, or find the little guy creepy, all things considered. Nishishi, he's the only friend I had for the longest time. But enough about him, let's focus on you~!" he leaned in, getting closer into Shuichi's personal bubble, " Sooo, you find it cute huh? Nishishi, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were hitting on me just now. Is that it Mister Detective?" Kokichi's eyes bored holes into Shuichi even more than before from the safety of his hate being taken away. 

Shuichi was stunned when he had definitely seen a little crack in Kokichi’s facade, but didn’t really have a lot of time to think it over... because of the almost immediate questioning he had started to get from the purple haired trouble maker that made him even more flustered than he already was. Especially when Kokichi had gotten close and into his personal space. “ U-Um! I-I mean! I-It’s not-!“ he stuttered out, not being able to manage to make words at the moment. He wasn’t trying to hit on him... or was he? No, definitely not..... Right? Shuichi confused himself. 

The gremlin backed away giggling as always, " Nishishi~! I'm only kidding, no need to get all flustered up Mister Detective, jeez!" He went to view the glossy coated nails he had gotten from earlier and wore a smug look on his face, knowing quite well that he had confused the living hell out of the other, " Lighten up okay? Sides, I'd doubt I'd be your type anyways." Instead of shallowly coming off as how it would normally be, suggesting that he wasn't Kokichi's type. Instead it was down played to Kokichi saying that he wasn't worth it. Did that mean that he did care a bit for the detective? Or did he think little of himself instead? 

Shuichi had calmed down a bit from being so flustered, but still had a hint of a blush on his cheeks as Kokichi kept talking to him about the whole interaction that had just happened seconds prior. The other wasn’t his type? Shuichi... hadn’t really thought about romantically liking another person, if he was being completely honest. He was so enamored and encapsulated by his work he just failed to notice these kinds of things. What even was his type...? But more importantly, Kokichi didn’t deny him of anything, just simply stating that he wouldn’t want to be with a person like that. Sure, he might have felt a little different around Kokichi, getting more flustered when they touched maybe, maybe getting a little more embarrassed around him during their interactions... but it wasn’t love, was it? For a detective, he was obviously pretty oblivious... Shuichi glanced off to the side, mumbling softly, “ Well... I-I don’t really have a type per say...” 

" Nishishi, maybe not but if you get one, I rather let you know not to even try putting up with me. Just take my word on it Mister Detective." Again the other refuted to say Shuichi was the problem, instead purposely marking himself as the target instead. Did the mischievous runt always set himself to be a target? With the constant nuisance he made himself out to be, it seemed likely. Either that or he really just wanted to piss people off because he got some joy onto it. Or was it that he rather not let anyone get close? The boy was an enigma all the way. " Well, anyways, can I get you anything Mister Detective?" His eyes gleamed over to the detective who was still partially out of it. 

Shuichi was thinking deeply about what Kokichi had said about himself, trying to analyze it. So, he barely recognized the fact that Kokichi was talking. To the detective, it kind of sounded like background noise, but thankfully, he could still understand it. Shuichi had been thinking for a couple of seconds after the waiter had asked the question, before he realized that he should probably answer the question that was asked of him instead of staying in his head. " O-Oh!" Shuichi stuttered out " I... I'll just have a lemonade. I'm not feeling very hungry at the moment..."He spoke, trailing of, trying to figure out the last time he did actually eat... when was that...? 

" Hmm, right, okay, I'll let Teruteru know then, don't need the cops not having energy to keep up with those idiots right? Right!" He quickly answered for Shuichi, stuffing the half child toy and half darker presence of the bear into his backpack, swiveling it on again and skating off, with his ever constant giggling. It didn't take terribly long for the purple haired boy to skate out and set down the drink with a small burger, " Here ya go~! Teruteru, said it was on the house, but just this once, got it?" He turned his back to the detective having the teddy stare at him. Some type of marble had been placed in the odd red jagged eye, making it shine off as if it were staring into him intently with it's fiendish smile, teasing him. 

Shuichi had blinked when the drink was on the house, a bit confused as to why it would be. But, he knew he shouldn’t dig deep into it. The stare that the teddy bear was giving him was a little off putting... but he tried to brush that out of his mind as he gripped onto the drink and nodding “ O-Oh, um, tell him... I say thanks...?” He spoke awkwardly, not really experienced in these kinds of social interactions. 

" Yeah sure I will... However the burger you need to pay for since it was extra..." Again he gave a Cheshire grin before baking away on his skates, " I'm lying, that's the one on the house, though you will need to pay for the drink-ahh who am I kidding, I'm joking, both of those things don't cost much and he said you looked kinda out of it and boy do ya'! You should get some rest and not think so much, not everything is a mystery~!" before the waiter could roll off elsewhere he gave the other a smug look, " Or is there a bigger mystery that links things together going on? Oh, oh well, see ya Mister Detective!" He called out, going to new costumers while the unsettling bear kept it's gazing red eye on him, switching side to it's cuddly plain white side every now and then when Kokichi moved at another angel. 

Shuichi had blinked when Kokichi had rolled away, the ideas that he had just said conflicting. Why tell him not to overthink things then tell him something that would make him think...? Shuichi didn’t completely understand Kokichi’s motives behind his actions just yet, but he wanted to understand them eventually. He kept thinking and thinking about various things, for example...did he really look that out of it? He didn’t really feel out of it at all... he should check a mirror or something when he had the chance. He also glanced over at the teddy bear that was strapped to Kokichi’s back and how it stared back at him. Was the story he told earlier really true..? There could be some holes in his story, so he couldn’t know for sure if it was a lie or if it was real. He’d have to figure that out. Did it tie in with what Kokichi said about a bigger mystery? Shuichi got lost on his thoughts again, taking small sips of his drink but subconsciously not touching his burger while he was deep in thought. His brain said he didn’t have the time to eat, while his body might have been saying otherwise. Shuichi couldn’t tell. 

After what seemed to be hours, Kokichi looked over to the navy blue haired boy from the diner's kitchen window where the plump chef would normally place the food. He frowned watching him, maybe he was getting too much in his head due to the fact he just sat there alone, sipping rarely and not touching the food. Kokichi himself wouldn't eat much, but it was never because he was over analyzing things, it was for worse reasons. In fact his roommates were constantly reminding him as well as his employer. " Hey Teruteru he hasn't touched it... You didn't put like some crazy shit in it right?" 

Teruteru glanced over at Shuichi who hadn’t touched his food, and seemed to be lost in thought as he looked down at the ice melting in his drink. “ I don’t reckon I put anything weird in it... it’s made normally. Maybe he’s just a little down! Or stressed!” He commented, immediately dismissing the idea that his food could be at fault. He was confident in his skills, “ Maybe you should do somthin’ nice for him. Might get his mind offa’ whatever’s got him slumped.” 

Kokichi groaned internally, not that he didn't want to spend time with the detective, but what after what Rantaro had asked made him nervous. Of course he didn't show it and simply chuckled, shaking his head from the chef's reply, " Nishishi, that's what I get for doubting your cooking, I swear. Well, he does seemed a bit deluded, so I might as well." He skated by the other, 'punching' his shoulder as he snickered, playing around with him. Suddenly Shuichi's thoughts halted as Kokichi slid next to him, " Hey, if I somehow muddled you into thought, maybe I should take you out somewhere, rest your big heavy critical thinking head for once okay?" He leaned closer to whisper, " Also you're making the children here ask questions about why is that man just sitting there doing nothing but staring off into space. And worried parents are never a good thing. After I'm done, maybe I can take you to the mall or something? I mean, think of it as a thanks for dancing with me." Before Shuichi could connect the dots, the other smirked, " Dancing on the ice with me, I enjoyed our skating." Oh... 

Shuichi blinked when his thoughts were interrupted by Kokichi asking him to... take him out somewhere, also getting embarrassed when the other customers were being bothered by him. When he had mentioned dancing, he immediately though to what happened at the convenience store, but those thoughts were dismissed when the purple haired boy added on the ice skating part. Shuichi mulled it over for a few seconds... it wouldn’t hurt, right? He did want to get to know the mischievous boy more... Shuichi had a light blush on his face, nodding softly, “ U-Um....sure...?” 

" Awww, there ya' go! You're getting out of your shell, being more courageous and adventurous~! Okay, I'll just leave Monokuma here with ya, he'll know if you don't eat-which you should really, it's unhealthy not to. I'll be done in just a bit." He pulled out the stitched up bear, placing it aside next to him on the counter. " Okay Monokuma, watch over Mister Detective for me." He pat the plush and rolled off. Even with making him think and analyze things, the boy still threw in small jabs that wanted to make him think, thus the bear now watching him. The teddy looked to be well taken care of, but still a bit scruffy here and there... Why the hell did one side only seem natural anyway? Did D.I.C.E. actually have the gull to tear it in two, just to stitch it with a crude version for Kokichi? Shuichi looked at the stuffed bear that was placed in front of him, blinking slightly at the slightly threatening aura he got off of the bear... even if it was an inanimate object, the implications for it were too negative... why would D.I.C.E even do that to Kokichi? Was he just another random victim or was he targeted because of something. Was the story even true? Was the story made up, and did Kokichi himself actually tear apart the bear? Shuichi found himself lost in thought again, glancing over at the bear. He didn’t even realize he was drifting off into thought again, leaning his face against his hand which was propped up by his elbow on the counter. He still hadn’t touched the food, not meaning any offense by it, just forgetting it was there. 

" ... You know, you should really before I eat it, then I'd have to make room for dessert, aka you~!" The bear seemingly chuckled, although that wasn't the case as the purple rascal popped up from behind the counter as he hid behind there, giggling, " Nishishi, just kidding~! But you really should eat something or I'm not taking you anywhere. I don't want to deal with a grumpy child. I deal with Saionji too often for my own good. Ruins my complex." he waggled his finger at the detective, making his way around the counter and sitting next to him, " I'm almost done by the way, but seeing you sit there like a sad puppy tugs at my heart strings. Or whatever replaces that, hehe~!" 

Shuichi had been snapped out of his thoughts from Kokichi popping up from behind the stuffed bear, giving him a soft smile of reassurance. " O... Okay. I'll eat a little of it... but not a lot." The detective spoke, picking up the burger and inspecting it slightly to see what was on it before speaking again, " I'm not very hungry at the moment anyways...." He spoke, looking over towards Kokichi who had sat next to him with the same small smile on his face, reassuring him he wasn't a sad puppy just moping at the counter. He then took a small bite of the burger, noting the pleasant taste of it as he chewed. 

" Yeah well, my roomies bitch at me all the time to eat, so if I gotta' suffer, so do you." He winked a lilac eye before going back to his work. Soon the purple haired boy was finished and waved to the chef, "Okay, I'm off~! Give my saying to the missus~!" The Missus being the wondrous chef's mother of course. For someone who did have a dirty mind, he hadn't really dipped into the dirty slums of society. The slightly younger of the two took the bright, almost glittering purple skates off and traded them for normal black shoes from his backpack, making sure to put the bear away from the wheel least he got dirty and propped the head to poke out again. 

Even before Shuichi could ready himself, the smaller male snatched his hand and led him out humming, pleased with a job well done and snagging the detective, allowing him to clear his mind. Once the two got to the mall, Kokichi still held his hand and took in a deep inhale of the winter spirit that was indoors. " Now that we're alone... I wanted to ask, is your hand okay?" He tilted his head, making innocent childish eyes as they focused dearly on Shuichi's other hand, the one that had been wrapped up. 

Shuichi had been dragged out from diner and to the mall, a little flustered but his mind was defiantly clear of the thoughts pertaining to the gang. He watched as Kokichi looked at the hand that wasn’t being held onto and that was poking out of his coat. He lifted his hand up, the heavy bandage that was around it before replaced with a lighter bandage. “ Oh, yeah, the cut that was on it before that I had gotten from work has been healing... but I haven’t been taking as good of care of it as I would like to...” he replied, giving a sheepish and embarrassed smile with a blush on his cheeks. From both his answer about his injury and from the fact that the purple haired boy was still holding onto his hand, even inside the mall. 

Kokichi unbeknownst didn't even regard anything by holding the other's hand-well he probably did, but he'd just play it off as a lie. He gave a small huff and let go, setting his pack down and rummaging through it until he pulled out what he had been seeking. A small medical kit, " Here." He said, gently undoing the bandage and ridding it into a nearby trash can. He opened the small kit, reaching for another bandage, some gauze, and some anti-bacterial spray. " Okay this might sting a bit... No I'm lying, it'll hurt like a bitch, nishishi~!" He said quickly as he sprayed the cut palm." 

Shuichi flinched a bit when Kokichi had sprayed the disinfectant onto the cut, hissing softly through his teeth at the stinging sensation on the cut that in some parts looked slightly infected... Shuichi definitely hadn’t been doing a good job in taking care of himself. He then recalled the first night he arrived, how his hand was patched up by a thief slightly like the way Kokichi’s was doing now. To distract himself slightly from the stinging and to dismiss any deep thinking he might do about the subject, Shuichi asked the purple haired boy a question. “ D... Do you always have a med kit on you...?” 

The purple gremlin paused for just a fraction of a moment, steeling himself up as he pulled out a small napkin like cloth to wipe away the stray blood and any other things that could cause infection. " ... My mom use to tell me to carry one with me. That way when I got beat up, I could take care of myself when she wasn't there." He talked rather low, sliding into the reason and into his background before wrapping it up with the gauze, tightening it softly. His eyes shifted up, a grin forming, " Nishishi, that's a lie of course! Rantaro will bitch at me if I get hurt and not there to mother me!" Shuichi thought for a moment about the two stories that Kokichi had just told him, really debating if the first story was actually a lie. Because the purple haired boy’s initial reaction to it told Shuichi otherwise.... regardless, the detective had nodded at him and flinching softly as the gauze that was wrapped around his hand was being tightened. 

" There, I even made a little bow on it just for you~!" Again Shuichi was casted down with the boy's constant giggling, " But you really should be more careful. Self preservation can go a long way and if you don't take it to heart you could end up dismantled, broken, and weak." He sneered before gently taking hold of the free hand, leading the detective elsewhere, particularly passing by a store where someone familiar called out. 

" Oi! Pipsqueak!" 

Kokichi looked over to a sports store, " Hey Leon!" 

" What cha' doing?! Wait, why ya' got the fidgety guy with ya?"

Shuichi glanced at his bandage, letting the words that Kokichi spoke to him soak in a little as he was dragged along before he was pulled out of his thoughts by someone calling for Kokichi. He looked over at the familiar orange haired boy, recognizing him from the ice-skating venture. Shuichi... didn’t know if he should be flattered that he called the ‘fidgety guy’... but, nonetheless he gave the other boy a small wave and a small, “ Hi...” 

The fiery red head waved, " Yo! Kokichi, remember to come home early, Ibuki's making fucking tacos!" He pumped his fist into the air, excited for the upcoming feast procured by their roommate. This didn't last long as Leon nearly keeled over, " Ah! Fuck-Ahh-stop hitting me! I'm calling for work abuse!" He yelled out to his side behind the counter. That was when the detective saw a cat like hat stick out from behind the counter, slowly raising up until it reveled a small... Was that a child? 

A small child peeking his head over the counter, his brow raising to see the other two before an unwavering expression spread to his face. " First off, at work, no cursing, there are kids around. Second, Ouma get over here..." The kid said with an extremely low voice... Okay, that wasn't a child. Kokichi rolled his eyes, walking into the store, grumbling. " Ouma, I told you not to go near my store... And as for you-" He looked to the other, his eyes squinting. " I should talk to you. You two, go scuttle off over there-AND... Don't break anything this time." He scowled with large eyes, making the two energetic males scoot away. His eyes looked up to Shuichi and got out something that looked like a cigarette, " Sorry about that. Name's Hoshi Ryoma." 

Shuichi had blinked softly at the small... man? In front of him, but tried not to act to surprised as to not offend the deep voiced stranger. Shuichi listened as he introduced himself and as the other two scooted away from the both of them. “ I-It’s no problem... my name’s Shuichi Saihara. It’s nice to meet you.” Shuichi greeted with a soft smile on his face, subconsciously wondering why Ouma was banned from coming near the store and why the cat-hatted guy in front of him seemed so insist on talking to him. 

The young-extremely young looking man put the cigarette in his mouth and started chewing, " It's candy, don't worry. Anyways, It's nice to meet you, sorry for singling you out, it's just..." His round eyes shifted to Kokichi and Leon, making the purple hair boy twinkle his fingers as a form of wave mixed with a devious smile and cheeky eyes. " ... I don't see Ouma with many people besides his roommates. I'm just telling you as advice, be careful around him, if you haven't heard. He's a trouble-maker, and you look like a decent kid, I'd hate to see someone get in deep just by being around him. Well I mean, unless your his probation officer, if he somehow landed getting one, which I doubt. I already deal with Leon enough as it is, just giving advice is all. Other than that, sorry for disturbing you, if there's anything you need or want to ask, please just let me know. Least I can do for spooking you. " Ryoma looked up to him, noticing the soft smile and slight stuttering. The guy wasn't trying to suddenly get onto him, just being friendly in his own way, which was a bit brash. 

Shuichi had smiled from the concern that Ryoma had shown for Shuichi hanging out with Kokichi, knowing that the concern was very much warranted... but he didn’t want him to worry. “ Thanks for the concern...” He spoke with a soft smile on his face, “ I actually know what I’m getting myself into, I’m pretty sure... but I’m positive I’ll be fine. I’m relatively new to this town, I’m a detective actually, so I think I’ll be able to hold my own with him...” He explained, a soft and embarrassed blush on his face. “ And you’re not disturbing me at all, you seem like a pretty good guy... one of the only normal people I’ve meet since I got here.” 

Ryoma's tired looking eyes widened once he heard Shuichi explain himself, taking out the stick candy with two fingers as if he really was inhaling the tobacco from a real death stick. His other hand lifted his beanie up, showing a slightly surprised face, " Huh... Shit, go figure." He said quietly, tugging his beanie down again before giving an impressed smirk to the navy haired boy, " Heh go figure. We get a new detective and you're already on the case of Ouma." he admired Shuichi for even getting close to the trouble maker, even though he himself was a very patient guy. But he couldn't handle the childish purple haired boy. " Hehe, you're defiantly gutsy I tell you that. But you've still got a ways to go for sure." He tugged the cat like eared beanie lower, trying his best not to upset the other but also hiding the smile he got from the kind compliment, " Thanks for letting me know I'm on of the good ones, makes me feel better. But anyways, I'll let you know if you have any questions on him, lemme' know. I may not have many answers but I'd enjoy to help a detective as much as I can." He said, passing the other a small paper with his number. " One of my uncles use to be a detective, so, I'd be glad to be of help." 

Shuichi took the paper with Ryoma’s number, making sure to put it safely into his pocket and to make sure to call him later. He might be able to get some really good information from him... Shuichi nodded at Ryoma’s willingness to help with a smile on his face. “ Okay... I’ll make sure to call you...!” He replied, glancing over at the purple haired boy who had scooted off to the side. “ Well...he’s the one who invited me out so I shouldn’t really keep him waiting long... but it was really nice to meet you...!” 

Ryoma had set his elbow of ebony onto the counter and nodded, " Oh boy. Alright, be careful with the pest." He gave the taller boy a small thumbs up before tossing a kickball from behind the counter to Leon, " Okay break time's over." 

Leon was pushed a bit as the rubber ball smacked into his arm, " Ah! okay, okay, jeez man. Alright Kokichi see you later, oh and hope ya' have a good time Shuichi." He waved before rubbing his arm. 

The other sports worker rolled his eyes, shaking his hat, making the pointed ears follow, " You baby." 

While Kokichi giggled, Leon's face grew almost as red as his hair in embarrassment in front of the younger boy. Kokichi led Shuichi out before Leon could yell at him and laughed out. Once they were away from the sports store he gave a toothy grin and nudged Shuichi with his elbow, " Oooh, did you hook up with Hoshi~?" He whistled cheerfully, " And here I thought he was straight, you surprise me Mister Detective~!" Honestly he thanked himself that he wasn't near the short male or else who would have been in a world of metaphorical hurt. 

Shuichi was led out of the sports store, waving a goodbye to Ryoma before looking towards Kokichi once they had been led away. Shuichi then blushed when the purple haired mischief maker had implied he had hooked up with Ryoma, but...didn’t get as flustered as he did when Kokichi implied earlier at the diner that he was flirting with him. “ I-I wasn’t hooking up with him...” He spoke, looking off to the side, slightly mumbling “ B... but you’re right about the not straight part... I think.” 

The shorter male tilted his head curiously, bright eyes going innocent, " Whaaat?!" He gasped out, clutching the sides of his cheeks as his eyes widened, " Whooooa! He's gay or bi or poly?! Holy shit! Nishishi, I can't wait to tell the others!" He cackled out, thinking more on how it to be a rumor and not thinking Shuichi may have been talking about himself. He calmed himself down before he got corrected, " Or are you talking about yourself~? Because I could already tell the first time I saw you. You've got feminine hips." He snickered, poking the flushed detective's side. 

Shuichi blinked slightly when he had realized his mistake... he felt so stupid. He got flustered and he blushed when Kokichi had pointed out his mistake, closing his eyes with a red face as the smaller boy snickered and poked his sides. Even Kokichi thought he had feminine hips, it wasn’t just the kids... He looked off to the side, completely embarrassed about the whole situation, “ I-I...! I-I meant me....” He could barely get the words out he was so flustered, and the poking didn’t make it any better. 

The mischievous boy followed along once he swayed away a bit, " I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He snorted lightly, " You look fairly handsome, but then again that's just my opinion." He let out a soft sigh, " Okay, I'll stop teasing you, promise." Again he calmed himself down from his constant pestering that would have made most people leave or pissed. 

The two then came into an arcade with many games that buzzed with their mechanics while teenagers, young adults, and kids of all put in their coins, mashing buttons of various colors, or swiveled sticks. The area was dimly lit with a nice blue lighting and a galaxy themed flooring and walls with highlighted and glow in the dark stars around the cosmos. " Don't worry, I brought my own for us. I'll let Rantaro know that I spent my tips today with someone." He smiled gently, peering at the universal flooring, some type of recollection in his eyes as he held his smile. 

Shuichi had calmed down slightly after Kokichi teasing him, the comment about Kokichi thinking he was handsome swimming through his mind as they both entered the arcade. He looked at all of the machines, his thoughts clearing as he saw the blinking lights and joy stick controls everywhere. Shuichi glanced over at Kokichi’s comment, nodding softly and giving him a soft smile. “ Umm... Thanks....!” 

The usual joyful boy paused for a moment, hesitating to walk into the arcade before doing so and passing around several games, " Go on and pick one, you can have fun and not be so analytical for once, just have fun, no thought required what so ever~!" He signaled a hand to the typical beat 'em ups, shooting, driving, dancing, all sorts of genres to be explored. 

Shuichi blinked softly when Kokichi had allowed him to choose what game they would play, not really knowing which one to start on... he glanced around at all of the games in the arcade, trying to choose one to play first. Maybe... a shooting game? He hadn’t tried one before but... maybe he’d be good at it? Shuichi pointed to a super scary themed shooter game, a soft and hesitant smile on his face, “ U-Um...this one then?” 

Kokichi leaned over checking it out, hand on mouth, tapping his cheek before smiling, " Sure then~!" He put in the yen needed for the two of them and passed a one of the plastic yet relatively heavy guns to the detective as he handled his own, a bright red one. Almost the color of the bear's eye from earlier or D.I.C.E.'s notorious gleaming eye, while Shuichi got the cooled icy blue tinted one. The boy started the game and cocked the fake gun, aiming it at the screen, rather shakily. Though he clutched it and held it without too much effort, unlike his fingers which started to twitch under it. " You ever shot someone before?" He asked, his voice not trembling like his fingers. 

Shuichi glanced over to Kokichi’s trembling hands while he clutched onto the gun, looking at his trembling fingers. Shuichi didn’t feel so sure about playing the game now that he had saw Kokichi’s reaction... Shuichi then shook his head, answering the question “ No... I’ve tried to avoid it this whole time, and it seems it payed off. I never like to hurt someone while on duty either.” 

After a few shots in of blasting away random pixels and CGI type of monsters between the both of them, Kokichi spoke up again, " Hmm, that's a first. I thought people in the law enforcement would do something of that nature-then again, could just be the media and movies. So what would happen if you were in danger or were getting hurt? Would you just take it or fight back? And if you were to fight back, how far would you even take it?" The questions he was suddenly asking were rather difficult to place in Shuichi's mind. Was he just curious or was there a motive behind them? But aside from that, Kokichi was not a great shot at all, making him have to put another coin to revive his character. 

Shuichi had been reluctantly trained to use a firearm before so he could be a detective, so he wasn’t very bad at the game at all. Though, he didn’t want to admit it...he listened to Kokichi’s questions and tried to answer all of them, “ Well... I’ll use my hand as an example. When the instigator had cut open my hand, I used my good hand to try and restrain him while my partner cuffed him up. I tried to dodge in the first place, but that didn’t work out... so I guess I took it then handled it in the least violent way possible? I wouldn’t fight back, and if I did, it would only be to restrain the suspect...” 

Shuichi heard the other boy scoff, " Mister Detective you really need to learn that not all things can be answered by peace, taking it, or talking out things. There's many dangerous people out there. You need to protect yourself or you'll be super broken. Heh, I mean I'm glad you're getting out of your shell a bit, but you've still got some things to learn. If not, people will just walk all over you, hit you where it hurts, tear you down and spit on you while you cower." At this moment the purple haired boy's grip tightened, actually shooting a tad better, but not as well as Shuichi was. His usually bright sparkling eyes grew dim and dark. " Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying beat the shit out of them like Badgerman or anything, but just keep it in mind, survival and justice do hold violence as power at times. Not unless you're good at being a determined pacifist whose great at dodging the monsters of the world." 

Shuichi had kept playing the game, the conversation the two were having between each other not distracting him in the least. “ I’ve used my judgement on those kinds of situations up to this point and most of my cases have been resolved without me having to use violence to force someone into submission. I know myself how cruel this world can be. I’ve seen it through my own eyes and through the eyes of others in the cases I solve how messed up this world can be. But that doesn’t mean the world can’t be a good place either. With things, people that can make you smile or laugh of only just for a second. Sure violence maybe necessary at times but it also can make situations worse. So I only will use it if necessary. I’m sure if there comes a point where peace isn’t an answer, and if someone is going to get hurt because of it, I’ll pull out my taser or a gun and pull the trigger. But only if there’s no other option. I can think of a million other ways to solve a problem besides using violence to force people to submit.” 

The smaller boy tried keeping up, possible emotions inflicting inside, but it was rather hard to pinpoint exactly what was going on in his mind. " Peace can be a temporary happiness but violence can remain permanent on someone, but I do understand what you're getting at..." The side of his lip slivered up, letting his brain jump onto something else to keep away from getting into an argument or making himself upset. " Nishishi, you must be a push-over in bed huh~?" And just like that, Kokichi had switched to his go lucky and childish tone, his eyes looking over to view a blush and reaction to his liking. 

Shuichi widened his eyes slightly when the purple haired boy suddenly had brought up a new and rather embarrassing topic, his cheeks flushing a bright red as he started to miss his shots in the shooting game. “ I-!” He stuttered out, glancing in every direction other than to his side where the other boy stood. “ I-I...! I wouldn’t know...!” He stuttered out, trying to avoid the question, but then possibly set himself up for another few good lines of teasing... 

Kokichi was able to fire at the incoming monsters due to the sudden jostle of the random shots bouncing around on the screen, making his grin vanish once Shuichi had yelped that out. He stared at the red tinted faced male and slowly let his maniacal grin spread, his eyes narrowing. This was going to hurt Shuichi internally, full to the brim of embarrassment. " Ohhhhhh! Nishsishi, you don't even know~? Oooh, virgin are we? Hmm, maybe I should give a few pointers~!" he cracked out a laugh before stopping, going back to his cheery and cheeky nature, " That's a lie of course. It's fine actually. I wouldn't even know myself... Though it doesn't help that Miu never stops her lewdness-I swear for someone so smart she sure spends a lot of that brain power on the dumbest shit ever." 

Shuichi blushed brightly when he was teased by Kokichi, his shots towards the screen just getting worse and worse. But... it made him less embarrassed that he wasn’t the only one at least. He nodded, still avoiding eye contact with his face full of a cherry red blush. Eventually his character had died, his slip ups for the last few moments now taking his toll. He put down the gun, glancing to the side, “ M... Maybe we should try another game?” 

" Awww boo, we failed. So close too." Kokichi muttered out, placing the heap of plastic back before smiling, not even teasing the blushing boy. In fact he rarely poked fun that the cheeks on the detective turned strawberry red or a light shade of pink. He gave a smile and viewed around the arcade for a new game to pop in some coins into to enjoy his time with the shy detective. " Hrmmm, oh! How's about that one?!" He practically skipped over to plastic and metal prototype looking gliding hangar. " That one's meant for one or two people, it's super nice and relaxing, one of my favorites-well until the end. Then I just close my eyes and pretend I'm elsewhere... I'm lying, nothing scares me~!" 

Shuichi followed the smaller boy over to his game of choice, looking over to the plastic and metal contraption... well, it couldn’t hurt to see what it was like, right? Shuichi nodded softly, a small smile on his lips and a hint of redness on his upper cheeks and his ears as he agreed to try out the game with him. “ Sure... sounds fun...!” Kokichi popped in the coins and held onto the soft foam covered bars of the fake glider, showing them both a large screen holding a spectacular view of forests and landscapes down below to simulate an actual glider hovering in the air, letting the breeze guide them. At times it seemed like they got close to the ground, only to pass by stretches of sparkling water and animals with Canadian Geese taking off and flying alongside them. Soon came vast desserts and tundra laced mountains, even with several lodges in a small tucked in village. Kokichi sighed softly taking in the virtual like scenery as if he were there. Shuichi watched the virtual scenery that was going past them, slightly admiring how realistic they tried to make the whole experience feel. The detective glanced over at the smaller boy when he had sighed, assuming that it was from contentment of the moment. He really liked this machine then... this made Shuichi smile a bit before his attention was focused back onto the screen, holding onto the foam bar with a slightly tightened grip. 

Kokichi had nearly leaned against the detective's shoulder, stopping himself abruptly as the the beautiful view of scenery was closing to a nightfall sequence. The purple haired boy grit his teeth, his eye twitching in place. Soon he shut his eyes tightly avoiding and evading the next thing that appeared on the virtual world. The screen showed the glider now moving up into the sky and over a lone mountain to pass by climbers, waving to them. At the very pinnacle of the top, Shuichi was greeted by a sea of stars, purple, indigo, and blue swirling around to paint the false sky. In the distance was a shooting star, a trail of lights trailing behind it. The sight of it made him think of how Kaito would enjoy it, however it had the opposite effect on Kokichi who was clutching the foamed bar, digging into it. Shuichi had thought the stars that the screen had displayed were... pretty breathtaking. Though, it would have been more amazing if he were to be seeing this in real life. But the possibility of that was low, he told himself. But, while gazing at the stars he noticed something off about the purple haired boy next to him. Despite the calm and serene nature, Kokichi had seemed to be tense, his eyes closed and his nails digging into the foam bar they were holding onto. Did this... scare him? Or bring up bad memories? Either way, it looked like he was panicked... Shuichi thought of what to do to try and help, until he finally settled on something. He slowly moved his hand over, gently setting it on top of one of the others’ hands that was gripping onto the foam bar to try and help him calm himself down. 

The shorter boy flinched harshly from the small but caring touch. The panic and tension began to unwind rather slowly, almost painfully at the rate it was taking. Shuichi could feel the trembling from the normally goofy nature of Kokichi. He swerved his head away from the other quickly so he couldn't get a good view of his face. Did another small piece of the large mask he wore chip off again? As soon as it was over, the cheeky scarfed boy looked to Shuichi and grinned, placing his other hand onto the detective's, " Whoahoho, is someone trying to make a move there~? Nishsishi, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" 

Shuichi had blushed just slightly when Kokichi had implied he had made a move, but wasn’t as flustered by it because of the actions Kokichi had done before he had teased him. What was that reaction....? He guess he would have to figure it out later. He smiled softly as another response to Kokichi, his face slightly red as Kokichi put his hand on his. “ U-Um..” He spoke, glancing off to the side “ This one is over, right? We should move on...!” 

" Nishishi, you're right~! Nice and relaxing but no excitement or action! So booooring!" He groaned out, obviously faking the sudden exaggerated expression. He brought the detective to a type of driving game, though instead of driving it was paddling. He sat on the bench meant for it, cushioned by a comfy plush seat. His slim hands grabbed hold of a canoe paddle that stayed away from the other games on a podium for use. " This'll be fun!" 

Shuichi followed him over to the steering-type of game, not really having seen something like this before... he sat on the plush seat that was made for the game, grabbing one of the paddles as well. “ So... do we just row this like a normal canoe then...?” He asked, a little confused about how the game worked. He probably would figure it out just by the no other obvious answer there, but as he sat there with his upper cheeks flushed slightly he just... didn’t seem to be able to think properly. He knew he was having fun, though. 

" Nishihi, of course silly! Just try to avoid the typical, rocks, whirlpools, natives, dinosaurs, hippos, giant spiders, sea serpents, hostile birds, sharks, mutant alligators." He gave Shuichi a wide smile, " Only pulling your leg! Though there are rocks and ramps put up by some type of manatee mascot or something. It's simple." He started the game up, which was a bit bumpy as the seat's mechanics shifted below under them, making them rock side to side, forward, backward, and rumble. After a moment it the two got use to it enough to not constantly smack into everything on screen. Shuichi was a little wobbly and unstable at first as the seat under them started to shift under them slightly, but was able to get his footing back and play the game as he used the paddle to control the screen of the game as best as he could. He glanced over at what Kokichi was doing periodically, trying to match it or mimic it so the game could potentially go smoother than it had been going originally. 

Kokichi focused on the game instead of talking or looking away, his eyebrows furrowed, eyes watching intently as his hands and arms bounced around to keep up a nice pace. His eye to hand coordination was pretty good from what Shuichi could see. It was only until a moment his eyes widened, " Ah shit-shit-ramp and waterfall! If we're able to get that ramp we can get some air time and rack up some points-not to mention a pretty great credit ending~!" Just like a child, he was excited for something so mundane. Shuichi had found that Kokichi’s child-like excitement was pretty easy to catch on to, finding himself trying to do his best in the game and get up the ramp so they could get the great credit ending like the purple haired boy had wanted. He couldn’t help but smile at the whole situation, and how much fun he was having at the moment. That was, until the screen in front of him seemed to get blurry. In fact, most of the things in front of him seemed to get blurry. He blinked a few times, shaking his head slightly as he moved the paddle as best as he could, but was notably a little less coordinated and slower than he was at the beginning of the game. " Uhhh M-Mister Detective-whoa-hey-whoaaa!" The childish antics Kokichi presented tried it's best to make him want to accomplish the secret credit roll, but Shuichi's side made them veer off and end the game with a normal plummet. Kokichi huffed and gave him a quick glare for ruining what he had wanted to show the other but stopped, looking uneasy and concerned, " Whoa, hey, you okay there?" 

Shuichi heard the other sitting next to him calling out for him, so he glanced over at Kokichi. He looked... out of it. His upper cheeks and ears had been flushed for the majority of the time they were there, but anyone could chop that down to embarrassment. But, now it had grown worse, most of his face seeming flushed and his usual golden inquisitive sparkling eyes now looked slightly dull and distant. Shuichi parted his lips softly to give a reply to him, barely able to make out a few sounds, “ M’... fi...” He spoke a mere second or two the detective’s eyes started to roll back slightly and his whole body began to limply fall back from his spot on the cushioned seat, dropping the paddle as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, it's not a heart attack or stoke...


	15. I'm Just A Kid And Life Is A Nigtmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today on this fic, Kokichi has a fucking breakdown  
>  **Also, after chapter notes are HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know normal Kokichi would be much better at playing it cool, but this story's one is far more broken.

Beeping was heard when Shuichi opened his eyes, and he found himself staring up a a nearly blinding light, shining down on him. When his vision cleared up, he was in a room, reeking of hospital smells of chemicals, cleaning supplies, and whatever the other smells were. Near the wall away from him stood Maki looking at the floor before her eyes glanced up, " He's awake." 

That was when Kaito entered his view on the room around him, " Oh thank god! Shuichi, you okay there man?! Don't worry just hold on, Kaede and the nurse are on their way!" 

Maki put a hand to her forehead, " K-Kaito please don't yell..." 

Shuichi had known the familiar scent and blinding lightly of a hospital all too well, so seconds after he had woken up he knew exactly where he was. Just... not exactly sure how he got there. When Kaito had suddenly yelled out of nowhere, it definitely startled him awake, making him jump up slightly on the hospital bed he was sitting on. Wait... the last thing he remembered was being with Kokichi at the arcade... so how all of a sudden did he end up here with Maki, Kaito, and apparently Maki with no Kokichi in sight. “ K... Kaito? Maki...?” He asked softly, “ What’s going on? Why am I here?” 

Maki walked over, pushing aside the louder of the two away, " We got a call from Leon. Him, Ryoma, and Kokichi rushed you to an emergency ward. Apparently you were hanging around Kokichi playing arcade games and passed out. Leon took him home and notified us. Something about not wanting to stay here, scared of whatever. All I know is that he was going through a nasty panic attack and bit Kaito who questioned him." 

" H-Hey, look, he wouldn't tell me what happen! I was super worried for ya' man. Stuff always happens when people are with him that aren't his roomies, I was just makin' sure he didn't pull something!" Kaito pitifully explained his rash reasoning. " Hope this bite isn't infected..." He whined looking to a slightly swollen finger.

Maki sighed, " You're not helping your case..." 

Shuichi heard what had happened, now feeling incredibly guilty for causing everyone so much trouble... He looked down at the hospital bed he was laying in, only noticing the tube that was attached to his wrist. This whole thing really was serious... Shuichi spoke softly, “ I... I know it wasn’t his fault at all. No matter how mischievous he seems, Kokichi would never do something that could make me pass out like that....” He spoke hesitantly, not feeling like he was even worthy of giving an opinion after all of the trouble he’s caused. The moment afterwards, there was a knock on the door to the hospital room before the said door opened. Kaede walked inside of the room, looking really upset. It looked like she might even have been crying a little bit earlier, Shuichi was quick to notice the signs of this. Kaede was followed in by a nurse who had choppy dark purple hair, and who looked slightly shy and nervous. 

“U-Um! You’re Saihara Shuichi, correct?” She asked. The navy haired boy nodded softly from his spot on the hospital bed. 

“Yes...” Shuichi spoke softly. The nurse nodded and stepped closer to him and to everyone in the room, but seemed to be solely addressing him. 

“ M... My name is Mikan Tsumiki! I-I’m your nurse today!” She stuttered or nervously. “ A-As for why you passed out and now you’re here, w-we ran multiple tests to see why you passed out.... A-And your blood sugar levels were awfully low, your internal temperature was rather low, the iron levels in your blood were low...” Mikan paused for a minute before speaking again. “ Wh-When’s the last time you’ve eaten, Mister Saihara?” 

The taller purple haired person tsked a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck, " Dammit Shuichi, how'd ya' survive in the city? That is just beyond me. Ya' need to take care of ya'self, if not, we're gonna' hafta' help ya' out-and trust me..." He lowered to the other boy whispering as he put up a hand near his mouth to block out anything, " Maki will notice, she's a fuckin' beast when it comes to my med-Ahhh! Owowow!" Kaito immediately regretted giving the advice as Maki snagged him by the ear and tugged the astronaut in training from Shuichi and away to the wall around. 

" Come on mister 'I've taken my medication and don't need it'." 

" Ahhh-Maki-Roll!" Kaito blubbered out as he was promptly dragged away.

Shuichi looked over at Kaito, feeling guilty that they had to worry about him like this, Kaito’s goofy nature and the interaction between the purple haired trainee and Maki only cheering him up slightly. He then looked over at the nurse who had politely asked him a question, but couldn’t get the answer because of Kaito talking. “ I had a few bites of a burger around lunch time... other than that, I think the last time I ate was... maybe three days before that? I’m not exactly sure.” 

The nurse nodded, looking at him “ W-Well... as your friend said you really do need to be taking care of yourself. E-Either three large meals a day or five small meals a day. F-Food is very important.” She paused for a second to let it sink in, “ Y-You’re lucky that you only had just passed out. A-Anyway! I-I can allow you to discharge from the hospital after y-your current IV drip is empty to make sure you’ve gotten enough fluids a-and after you’ve eaten something.” The nurse glanced off to the side “ Y-You can eat something from the cafeteria here... o-or you can have someone bring something from outside if you would like. I-I’ll approve of it. A-Anyway! If you need me again just press the call button!” She spoke before turning quickly out of the room. 

Once the nurse was gone, Shuichi was met with the disapproving glare of Kaede. She seemed like she was upset about the whole situation, walking up towards Shuichi and slapping his face. Not full forced though, she didn’t think she could ever do that. “ I... Idiot...” Kaede spoke out weakly before raising her voice. “ I know that you get like this sometimes...but you really should know by now when you’re getting bad! I’m upset with you because you haven’t been taking care of yourself even if you know you can get like this sometimes! I’m upset with you because you didn’t come to us! I’m upset because... because it took us for you to pass out before we noticed it!” Kaede glanced over to the side, crossing her arms softly and grabbing at her elbows. “ I know I’m probably really overreacting, but... I was so worried about you Shuichi. And I’m mad at myself for not noticing sooner, after all this time that I’ve known you.” 

That was when the other male started to make his way over to the sickly detective, dragging Maki who still had a good grip on him, " Yeah man, we worry 'bout ya'. I gotta' see if my sidekick is alright! That's what heroes do! Ans as Luminary of The Stars, it's my responsibility to make sure you're safe!" He put his knuckles together as his normal stance before poking Shuichi into the hospital bed, " Sure I might have Maki-Roll n' Kaede as sidekicks-" 

" Please don't call me that..." Maki responded. 

" But you we're my first one! And dammit, I ain't lettin' ya' down! So stop screwin' around and let us help ya'!" He let out a sigh, dragging his hands to his hips, shaking his head, still somehow able to maintain his hair to stay in place like that. " Thankfully they got ya' an I.V, but even with that, you're gonna' need to get some grub in ya' at some point. I know your job asks for a lot, and you hyper focus on certain things, but you're health has gotta' come first if you want to solve things and help people out. Because if you're not there, whose gonna' be there?" He frowned, incredibly uncharacteristic for the trainee, softly talking to Shuichi but still keeping up some determination for his sake. He gave a sad smile, " Why ya' think I listen to them about my medication?" He asked pointing a thumb to the two girls. 

Shuichi listened to his friends scolding him for not taking care of himself well enough and for not going to them for some help...his guilt began to rise again, nodding at his friends’ words. “ I... I’m sorry for worrying you guys... and for not taking better care of myself... I don’t want to make you guys worry anymore. So, I’ll try to-... no, I’ll make sure that I take care of myself better from now on. I’ll also make sure to come to you guys if I’m struggling. So... I’m sorry, but I’m committed to getting better.” He looked towards them and gave them a soft but reassured smile. Kaede looked over at Shuichi, smiling brightly before leaning over to hug him. She was relieved, to say the least. 

" Good, then we don't make me hafta' to force feed ya' like I had to do with my grandparent's cat when he needed his pill, that was not fun. You had best keep that promise, cuz' if ya' don't, you're gonna' be in for a rude awakening of Maki-Roll." The red eyed girl merely scoffed as she was pointed out suddenly. She came over along side Kaito and gave him a thin smile. 

" We're just glad you're okay-" 

" Damn straight! Now group hug!" Before Maki could make a run for it the tall purple headed male wrapped an arm around her, yanking her over where his other arm wrapped around Kaede more gently, pulling the other three into a large hug, grinning like his typical self. Maki visibly twitched but bared through it. 

Over the next few days after Shuichi was discharged from the hospital, he had kept his promise. Well, it was much more easier to keep it when Hajime had instructed him to stay home as sort of a ‘punishment’ for not taking care of himself. He had spent the next few days at home, catching up on some of his books he hadn’t had the time to read and some of the movies he hadn’t gotten to watch. But most importantly, he had been eating more. He was up to three small meals a day, along with drinking more water. He had felt more energized than he had been in a while. Too bad he was stuck at home... after the few days at home, during the evening he was sitting at home on the couch and hugging onto a pillow watching a movie with his roommates. All seemed to be normal. The others watched, snacked on popcorn, or were on a phone or laptop, glancing up at the movie every now and then. The good thing for Shuichi was that there had been no word or sightings of D.I.C.E for good chunk of days. This made Haiji gain paranoia as to think they were planning something big, but nothing came to fruition..... 

Well that was until suddenly a frantic knock and a good push of the the doorbell rang out, making Kaito get up from his comfortable chair, being cozy from the cold winter air outside and enjoying lounging about for the evening. Upon opening the door he quickly shut it with a slam and groaned bitterly. Maki looked over from the couch, peering her red scarlet eyes from her phone, " Kaito...?" 

The trainee squinted his eyes in disappointment, nodding, " Ugggh, Kaede help, the purple imp's outside." 

Kaede looked over at Kaito as he walked into the room and called for some help, confused as the why the purple haired boy would be at the door this late. “ Really? He’s here? And I know you don’t like him Kaito, but you shouldn’t have slammed the door on him.” She scolded, starting to stand up. 

Shuichi had quickly gotten up from the couch, putting his pillow off to the side. He looked to Kaede with a smile “ D-Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” He had been feeling guilty over the whole hospital thing, so he tried to do things for everyone when he could. Kaede blinked before smiling and nodding, still standing though in case she was needed. 

Kaito rolled his eye before the pillow was accidentally thrown, smacking him right dab in the face, gripping it and spit out a small feather that had been poking out, " Jeez, what's got you all pumped Shuichi?" 

" He's trying to make friends unlike you..." Maki included to further insult the scolding, making the normally pepped male fold his arms and mutter angrily. " Don't you use that tone with me mister!" 

Kaito nearly screeched as she snapped her full attention to him, making him give up instantly, " Ah-okay, okay!" 

Shuichi walked over to the door, opening it and looking at the purple haired mischief maker standing outside of the door “ Kokichi?” He asked. “ Sorry Kaito closed the door on you, but, what brings you here?” 

Kokichi took in a deep breath and coughed into his arm, shuddering and panting. The sight of him was surprisingly shocking that Kaito hadn't noticed how out a breath he was along with freezing, but then again Kaito wasn't the brightest star in the sky. " I-I-It's fine! I-I-I w-was just going down t-to the convenient store near m-my place... S-So I didn-didn't need to worry about w-w-wearing something warm, i-it's only a sma-small walk-b-but then thi-this guy in a ma-m-mask started chasing me!" Small tears pricked from the corners of his eyes. Kaito's snappy attitude dropped once he heard the trouble maker and he rushed off to fetch a large blanket highlighted in stars. 

Shuichi widened his eyes as Kokichi’s story of how he ended up there, slowly ushering him inside and out of the cold, shutting the door behind him. He had questions about what the mask looked like, defiantly, but making sure Kokichi was okay was his first priority right now for sure. He looked pretty shaken up... “ Are you okay?” He sighed, “ W-Well, I mean, obliviously you wouldn’t be okay after being chased, but are you psychically okay? Did they hurt you? Try to hurt you? Did you scrape anything or hurt something?” Shuichi asked, really concerned about Kokichi’s well being. 

Kaede walked over to them, putting a hand on Shuichi’s back to indicate he needed to relax a little bit before looking to Kokichi. “ Whatever happened before, you’re safe here with us, okay?” She spoke, giving him a reassuring smile. “ Kaito’s going to get you a blanket to help you warm up, so just take a few deep breaths.” 

Kokichi huddled under the blanket that was put over him, Kaito sitting near Maki to keep a clear eye on him. Sure he didn't like the guy, but what kind of guy would he be if he didn't help? Maki listened in, watching the younger boy shake like a frigid leaf in the cold rain. Kokichi's teeth chattered violently as he took in some breaths to get a good amount of air back in his lung, coughing a bit in the progress, " I-I-I'm just super friggen' co-cold. T-T-They cha-chased me a-all over the pla-place w-w-w-with a knife. I-I thhh-think they wanted m-my money, a-and of course I f-f-f-forgot my wallet at home." He curled up a bit, taking off his shoes that were now getting wet from the ice melting, as well as as his backpack. 

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi, concerned for all of the stuttering he was doing because of how cold he was. At least, he hoped it was just because he was cold. The detective just wished he could warm him up quicker... though it probably wasn’t smart to go out in warm clothes anyway. Shuichi looked up at the purple haired boy, asking softly, “ What did their mask look like...?” to try and confirm his suspicions. 

" S-Some s-s-stupid shhhh-shit eating grin fo-fo-fox-" Before Kokichi could talk further on, another more heavy but patient knock echoed out in the home. 

Kaito being the 'man of the house' took it upon himself to go answer it again. Various voices were heard, the ones Shuichi came to know. Kiibo, Ishimaru, and unfortunately his boss. The purple imp shrunk trying to make himself smaller and slipped the blanket over his head, stopping himself from shaking... Or at the very least trying to. Haiji pushed the tall trainee out of his way and walked into the living room, panting a bit himself, but not as badly as the other prior to his appearance. " Sorry to intrude but we caught sight of D.I.C.E.'s leader scurry their sniveling ass nearby. Ran three damn blocks, got caught up on some fencing and tailed them here. Or that's what the footprints outside tell." 

Maki sat up straight and raised a brow, " Why don't you keep following them?" 

Haiji popped his back and grumbled out, " There's two sets of tracks around your property, going around the house, and their footprints went to the street and vanished. We found a few near the yard, so some of the guys are checking your roof... But we saw another pair leading to the door..." 

At that moment, something seemed to click in Shuichi’s head. With plausible suspicion, Haiji could very well just take Kokichi out of here now claiming for him to be the leader of D.I.C.E. Even though with the story it seemed entirely possible that the leader of the gang was there at the moment, that leader being Kokichi... with all of the apparent history between the purple haired trouble maker and his boss, he would rather not have Kokichi being dragged off anywhere by him... Shuichi would have to come up with another pretty convincing lie. But this wasn’t the first time he’s lied to his boss though, so he was more confident this time. “ Oh, that must be from Kokichi. He got here a while ago actually, he’s been here watching a movie with us. But other than that I haven’t really heard anything going on... Sorry I couldn’t be of more help, sir.” Kaede was slightly shocked by the good and honest detective she had come to know lying to the higher officer. But... this was Shuichi. She knew that if he was lying, then it was a good idea to follow along with it. Kaede glanced over to Kaito and Maki, giving them a stern look to try and indicate they should follow along with the whole act. 

Haiji's eyes scanned the room to find Kokichi huddling under the blanket for safety and gritted his teeth, " Yeah well..." He knelt down grabbing the boy's shoes and looking at them before dropping them on the floor. " Dammit..." He growled bitterly, keeping a sharp eye on the purple liar, " His tracks aren't the guy we chased, shit... Urgh, it's Kokichi's, though I don't see the point inviting the little runt here. You best not be getting into the shady side of this town." 

Since Kaito was outside helping the other two officers, Maki got up, making her way over and giving the tall lanky male a distinctive glare, " Hey, he might not be the best, but he's never broken any laws from what Chiaki's told me. Now unless that's wrong, you shouldn't be accusing him for being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Though the red dressed girl didn't enjoy the company of the trouble maker, she would take care of her friend's friends, despite better judgement, as well as keeping up Kokichi's track record for Miss Hasegawa. She also didn't seem too fond of people suddenly barging in on a calming evening... Either that or she rather take it upon herself to get into an argument with the chief rather than Kaito due to his temper getting the better of him. 

Kaede was all for what Maki was doing, picking a fight with Haiji. She didn’t really like the man in the first place, so when Maki started to argue with him, Kaede felt a little happy and more confident. She went up to him, standing next to Maki to try and defend both her really good friend and his friend. “ And whoever Shuichi wants to invite over to spend time with doesn’t mean he’s getting into the ‘shady’ part of town. He’s just making friends in this town, and he shouldn’t be critiqued for that. And even if he doesn’t exactly get along with everyone, Kokichi doesn’t deserve to be blatantly bullied by you.” Shuichi... was stunned. Of course he was happy that both of his friends had stood up for him and Kokichi, but it was slightly shocking that they would both keep up his lie and argue with someone with such high power in this town... he felt honored, really. 

The grown man sighed, shifting his eyes away, more angry with loosing a battle to two women instead of not being able to look around the area more properly due to his cast. " Jeez... Is this what I get for trying to make this damn town safer? If it wasn't for me, the little pest would have ended up being someone's little toy-" He mentally slapped himself for bringing it up as Maki's eyes widened and took a turn for a more deeming glare. If Shuichi saw her eyes, he'd swore the scarlet red turned brighter with sheer anger. " W-We'll just look around the area, sorry to bother you all. Hope you get better Saihara." He said, trudging himself outside with some wounded pride. Kaito seemed to still be outside to help them out, wanting to make sure his close friends were indeed safe. 

Kaede looked over towards Maki, seeing the almost deadly look in her eyes and was able to tell that she was very angry at the moment. She put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder, giving her a slightly stern yet slightly reassuring look. “ I know what he said triggered something with you... but you shouldn’t even waste any more time on that guy anyway. Just take some deep breaths.” Shuichi had thought about what Haiji had said.‘Toy’? What in the world did that mean? Maki seemed to know, but Shuichi felt out of the loop. He glanced over towards Kokichi who was still hiding under the blanket, sitting next to him and looking over at him. “ He’s outside now...” 

The red clothed girl however tore her shoulder away from Shuichi, her mood now soured as she grabbed her coat and began to go outside, " Better help Kaito, don't needing him to break a leg or something again like the last time he was on the roof trying to look at the stars..." The door slammed, making the home rumble for a split second. 

The purple haired boy let out a sigh before peeking out with a grin, " Nishishi, hey thanks for shooing him away for me! He's always been out for me from lying-no wait, stealing files-or was it bitching at him for not doing his job correctly? Ha, I can't even remember!" He cackled out, finding it all amusing somehow. or possibly that he was putting up a well diverse mask. 

Shuichi had to admit... the playful additive of Kokichi that contrasted with the tense moment that had happened with Haiji was really refreshing. “ It’s no problem.” Kaede glanced over at the two on the couch, smiling softly to herself before excusing herself outside to go and help the detectives outside as much as she could so they could go away quicker. 

Shuichi smiled softly from Kokichi’s cackle, glancing off to the side and suddenly remembering something he had wanted to say earlier. “ O-Oh, um... this might be a little out of the blue, but... do you want to go out again sometime...? I’m sorry I ruined the whole outing to the arcade... so... can I make it up to you?” 

Kokichi nodded to the pianist and waved to her before overhearing the detective he hadn't seen for a few days. " Ooooh, you asking moi~? Nishishi, someone's getting gutsy." His perpetual grin lowered however, " You didn't ruin the arcade, it was getting boring anyways. Sides, it's not like I was worried about you... I'm lying of course~." He put a finger to his lips, hiding a smirk behind it, " I'm glad to see you're doing much better. I got pretty worried there-HA! Imagine me, worried!" He chuckled lightly before leaning in closely, " You can make it up to me right now if you waaant~?" He flashed a scheming look before pulling away and giggling, " I kid, I kid!" 

Shuichi had a slightly embarrassed blush on his cheeks when Kokichi had said he was getting gutsy, but the blush saturated even further when Kokichi had gotten much closer to him. It didn’t make him uncomfortable, if anything it just made him flustered. He let out a soft exhale with a smile on his face before scratching his chin with one of fingers slightly, “ A-Ah..sorry I worried you. I-I’m doing much better now...! B-But anyways...” he glanced off to the side, still slightly flustered. Shuichi questioned himself, asking why he was getting to nervous and flustered over asking a friend to go hang out with him. He didn’t feel this nervous when asking Kaito and Kaede to go hang out years ago... and he didn’t feel this way around asking Maki about things. So what made Kokichi different. He cleared his throat, to try and pull himself out of his thoughts. “ I... I had gotten some tickets to see the play that everyone’s been talking about on Friday... I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?” 

The gremlin snickered quietly to himself, enjoying the other's stutter, flushed face of pinkish red, and the sudden nervousness. He was particularly giddy from getting the boy to be so flustered and yet surprised he hadn't tried to get him to stop like so many other people before him, Hajime being a wondrous example. It was his nature to tease others, get them to dislike him, but Shuichi hadn't denied him, which was an interesting perk. His glee faded away however, " Ohhh the play?! You know just how to ask a girl out~!" He put his hands to his cheeks giggling before sighing a bit, " Sorry, but no can do. Got something planned outta' town. 'Family' kinda' thing, sorry. You know, get together with those real close, illegal fireworks, blood orgies, the sacrificing virgins to the cosmic horrors of the universe! .... That's a big lie of course, but I really can't make it." 

Shuichi of course was... more than a little disappointed when Kokichi had said he was busy that day, now embarrassed that he had even brought it up. If he knew that the purple haired boy was busy that day, he wouldn’t have even brought it up. He looked off to the side in embarrassment, “ O-Oh! That’s fine!” He spoke, flustered. He really didn’t know why getting turned down, well, not turned down, maybe ‘taking a rain check’ was a better term to use for this, was making him so all over the place. He tried to think of something else the two could do together, but didn’t really know the layout of the town that well yet to really know all of the places they could go. He said he’d plan something to make it up to Kokichi, but it was hard to figure out something to do in a town you barely knew... ”U-Um,” he started to speak, basically admitting defeat, “ I... Is there... any other places you’d like to go to? It’s on me...!” 

The childish attitude came back full front, mainly because Shuichi still hadn't gotten onto him about the obvious and slightly gruesome lies twisted with his odd sense of humor. And for once, he wasn't teasing the detective as he smiled, " Oh yeah, yeah! We could go to one of my most favorite places, Kit's Pizzeria~!" His eyes sparkled with joy at the mere mention. However... from what Shuichi had learned about the town's tourist attraction, that It was a bit weird. Considering it mainly catered to small children, nerds, and early teens, but over the years some were fine with young adults. The thing that wasn't weird was well... It sounded like a place Kokichi was fond of even if it was childish in many, many ways. " Ohh man! Miu helped fix up the animatronics there so they don't fall apart and cause fires anymore!" 

Shuichi had blinked slightly when Kokichi had brought up the idea of the pizzeria... sure it might be a little childish, but it didn’t really seem off brand for Kokichi. If it made the purple haired boy happy, then Shuichi would take him to it. When Kokichi had told the story of how Miu fixed up the animatronics, Shuichi couldn’t help but give a small smile because of how enthusiastic he seemed about it. “ Th... That’s... great?” He spoke hesitantly, “ I guess it would be bad if the animatronics kept causing fires...” 

" Well obviously... Though she wasn't able to fix the free roaming device in them so when midnight hits they have an unhealthy need for blood-lust due to being a high functioning security system... Lying, no, their not like Kii-Boy. Mindless, automatons that look like they talk and play music but only just move a tiny bit with speakers. Oh right, hey... Is it okay if I stay the night? I don't want to run through the snow again." He gave the detective puppy dog eyes and a quivering lip for dramatic effect. 

Shuichi was relived that Kokichi lied about the animatronics, maybe never being able to look at them the same way again... He shook that thought out of his head and went on to listen to them answer Kokichi’s request. “ I... I think it would be okay. I’d have to ask the other three, but.... we don’t have any spare beds or anything, so I could loan you my bed and I could sleep on the couch or on the floor.” He spoke, thinking out loud about the whole topic. 

Thankfully that was when the rest came indoors, Kaito sighing, " Okay we didn't find anything except the damn thief's foot steps leading out into the street and then they vanish, poof nothing! Anyways, you should be gettin' home-" 

Maki cut him off quickly, " After running here? You really want to make Kaede or me drive in the snow... at night? Like it or not, he's staying here for the night." 

" B-but, but-" Maki snapped her eyes to him, making him let out a defeated sigh, nodding with her advice. " Right, right, so... You're sleepin' on the couch-" 

Kokichi whined out, " But it's all luuuumpy! And hard-do you shove rocks in this thing?" 

Kaito inhaled sharply, " You're lucky you're a guest... Well, I'd sleep on it, but I don't trust you anywhere near my room... Or any room without supervision." 

The shorter purple haired boy smirked, " How about I bunk in with one of you? Maybe Kaede~?" 

The tallest male there twitched angrily as he got flustered at the mere thought of the little weasel snuggling up to his friend in a perverted manner, " HELL NO!" 

Kaede... definitely didn’t like the idea of the small boy bunking with her, she had to admit, but that didn’t mean that Kaito should be yelling at this time of night. Kaede looked over towards Kaito, “ Hey! You’ll disturb the neighbors! Tone it down a little, geez!” S 

Shuichi looked at the interaction between everyone there, knowing that there really was only one option left... Kaito didn’t want Kokichi in his room, and probably didn’t want him in one of the girl’s rooms either, and the girls feeling the same way...and the couch wasn’t an option, so... Shuichi glanced off to the side, mumbling with a soft blush on his face “ H... He can just sleep in my room tonight.” Shuichi questioned why stating that, or the whole idea surrounding Kokichi sleeping in his room would make him flustered and embarrassed... he just was clueless. 

" H-Hey you're yellin' too-" Kaito's attention was drawn to the navy haired boy and walked over to him, placing his palm onto his forehead, seeing if his temperature went up, " Hey ya' okay there? Gettin' a lil' red there. Hmm, maybe comin' down with somethin'. Anyways, I'll go get the blow up mat." And so the star gazer went off to go fetch it. 

Maki simply shook her head, her dark hair following, " Idiot... Well anyways, I'd best go get some extra pillows and blankets, I'm sure Kaito will want his 'blanky' back." This made the smaller person snicker to himself, taking it off. Sure he wanted to further tease Kaito with it, but he really was tired from running. And besides, he now had someone else to taunt and mess with. 

Kaede smiled softly “I’ll go place your shoes somewhere where they can dry quicker, Kokichi. Let us know if you need anything else.” She then walked away and out of the room. Kaito thinking he had a fever or was under the weather only made Shuichi more embarrassed. He wasn’t that red... was he? Surely not... right? Part of him wanted to see himself in the mirror at that moment, and part of him didn’t want to see in fear of how red he apparently was. Shuichi began to get self conscious of how much he was blushing now, which in turn only made him blush more. He was his own fault, his thoughts only making himself more worked up about the whole situation. 

Not long after, Kokichi was now on the air inflated mattress , huddled up with a blanket-of course another one being starry themed with sparkling stars and swirling planets around the smooth fabric. The slightly younger boy curled up, looking around the room. For someone who would mess and fuss with stuff, he had barely commented on anything. In his mind he had so many ideas how to bug the detective, but once he sat on the bed, he realized how tired he really was. His eyes shifted all around to take in the new atmosphere before looking up. That was when he stopped trying to get comfortable and focused on the flat surface of the ceiling. 

Shuichi had laid down in his bed, nestled under the covers that protected him from the cold and chilly air that was outside of his window. He was surprised that the mischievous boy he was sharing a room with for the night hadn’t commented on anything about the room or Shuichi himself. The detective guessed that he must have been tired from being chased around and running in the cold, so he would let the boy be. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take Shuichi that long to get comfy and to close his eyes to try and sleep. He laid on his side, facing towards the inflated mattress that Kokichi was laying on. The moonlight coming from the window was hitting his hair and the lines of his face at a perfect angle, highlighting them and pronouncing them. His eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted, and a strand of hair fell in front of his face. He looked almost serene, peaceful, not like the bundle of nerves and anxiety he usually was. That was until he heard some shuffling around and hint of a small hiccup. When his amber eyes opened they were greeted by the sight of the trouble maker desperately hiding under the blanket before trying to make a poor attempt of a tent with various things around the room, out of some odd habit he had picked up, almost like fearing the surface above him would crumble and bury him alive. 

" Sh-Shit, no-not now, not now..." He muttered under his breath, hands trembling like they had back at the arcade. Why was he so disturbed by the ceiling? No bug was on it, no leaks, nothing, just a plain single color panning out the room. He tried being as quiet as possible, not to bother the sleepy detective but only made himself fairly louder at his indistinct babbling. 

Shuichi was almost immediately concerned by the quiet talking and the way that Kokichi seemed to be trembling as he had tried to build a blanket fort of sorts. The detective couldn’t figure out what he could be so disturbed by... The ceiling looked pretty clean and he was sure that he didn’t have anything else in the room the could be bothering the purple haired boy. Shuichi couldn’t just let this go ignored...” K... Kokichi?” He called out softly from the bed, sitting up and glancing over at him. “ Are you... okay? What’s going on?” 

Kokichi quickly turned around, yelping lightly and falling back onto the mattress, his fingers slipping and managing to open the small cap that held in the tightly compressed air. " I'm... I'm fine, nishishi! Ugh, looks like I'm pretty klutzy when it comes to new places-least I didn't pop it... Uhm-" His violet eyes looked at the scattered items around his feet, " Sorry about moving you stuff around, I just needed a bit of feng-shui is all." He forced a smile onto his face, though it was hard to keep up, his knees shaking very softly under the dim lighting of the room. It didn't take long until he saw Shuichi's face turn to that of concern as he easily ignored the blatant lies. " ..... I can't sleep under a smooth surface or without being next to somebody..." He admitted easily from being in a panicked state. 

Shuichi could easily see through Kokichi’s lies at the beginning. There was no way Kokichi was panicking over moving things around in his room and he could definitely see through that fake smile. When Kokichi finally admitted the truth, he felt much more at ease because of the amount of trust the other boy had put on him when telling him this. Shuichi had thought about it for a second, a blush slowly rising to his face. If he wanted to help Kokichi, that would mean...he took a deep breath before putting a kind and nervous smile on his face, scooting over in his bed and pulling the covers up to create an open space. The navy-haired boy then patted the empty spot on the bed with a reassuring smile and a soft blush, “ You can... you can sleep up here with me if it’ll make you feel better and help you sleep...” 

" Ohhh wow, already presenting~!" He put his hands up to hide his devilish grin as he chuckled behind them only to slow it down as something seemingly sparked up inside him, stirring him to stop all together and feverishly crawl to the side of the bed like a small baby animal. He took one more glance at the surface above him and let himself slide to the wooden flooring. The ceiling was getting closer, making his legs turn into jelly and throat dry, watching the impending doom. He managed to scurry into the bed quickly and ducking for safety, " AHHH-NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" He looked up from cowering once he felt a palm against his back to calm him down. The ceiling had gone back to it's original position, letting him take in some much needed breaths to ease himself. 

Shuichi widened his eyes when he saw Kokichi begin to panic, hesitantly reaching a hand out once he crawled into the bed. He gently put his palm against the other’s back in hopes that it would calm him down, even if only slightly. He was pleasantly surprised that it had seemed to help a little bit, hearing the deep breaths coming from the purple haired boy. Shuichi bit his lip, trying to figure out what to say in a situation like that. “ I... It’s okay. I’m here, and as long as I’m here... I’ll make sure you won’t get hurt.” He spoke with a soft confidence, the red coating his cheeks saying otherwise as he stayed close to Kokichi. 

The normally very cocky and smug boy listened to him, the slim edges of his eye pricking to life with faint droplets of tears daring to drip down. He gritted his teeth harshly trying to find a lie or a false sense of security when Shuichi spoke up. However his mind only mixed into his past, making the tears well up while he held them back as poorly as he could. This was so... unlike the boy the detective had seen. This was more than a simple panic attack, this was something traumatic, disrupting him from even reacting as he should. For once, a major portion of his ever up-kept mask was shattered to reveal a small scared child, alone in the world. 

Shuichi was surprised when he had seen the tears well up in the other’s purple eyes, not expecting to see any side of him being like this... The detective didn’t know what to do, what to say... He didn’t even know if touching the smaller boy to try and reassure him would help at this point. But at the same time, he couldn’t just sit idly by and do nothing. Shuichi slowly reached out, gently grabbing both of the other’s hands and holding them softly in his own. He leaned down slightly to look Kokichi in the eye, speaking softly and gently to him. Shuichi knee the importance of words, so he needed to make sure he used them carefully. “ Kokichi, you’re here now. Whatever happened before, it’s over now... you’re in my room, Saihara’s Shuichi bedroom, in this house where my and my three roommates live.” Shuichi took a deep breath before speaking again “ Whatever hurt you’ve been through, it’s not happening anymore. You’re in a different place, at a different time, and you’ve already gotten far past it. So just... breathe. Let yourself be here...” 

The rambunctious purple panta demon wiped away his tears with his sleeved arm, settling down for the detective's sake. He wasn't angry at himself for once for making the mask slip, but not charismatic enough to slip another on quick enough. His hands gripped tightly to the normally flustered and shy detective, making sure he really was hanging onto someone who was real there, right now, in reality instead of him being trapped within his own little world of pain and trauma. It was incredibly overwhelming considering he hadn't gotten that worked up in years. Soon his thin finger un-gripped Shuichi's smooth and warm hands. The purple haired boy looked into his eyes, Shuichi seeing no sense of mischief, a completely different person just about. A fragile and weak one that was hiding under the many masks. He still didn't say a word, still stuck a bit as the world lagged behind him. 

Shuichi's eyes softly widened when Kokichi had looked into his eyes, keeping a soft hold on his hands as the two of them stared into each others eyes on the bed. At that moment in time, the detective could tell he was looking at a pure form of the purple haired boy he had come to know since he had arrived here. No lies, masks, defenses... just him. It felt different, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t bad... seeing how fragile, weak, and vulnerable the boy in front of him looked was slightly upsetting to him, yet he felt an urge to protect him. He was curious to know how he had become so broken, but... it was best not to mention any of it at all. Shuichi was just feeling a wide variety of emotions and think multiple thoughts at once, staring into the others eyes. Giving the other boy a small smile, the detective had finally spoken again. “ How about we try and get some sleep, now that you’re back here...?” 

The smooth talker kept quiet and nodded like a robotic wind up toy, just going on impulse, no thought to make him hesitate or question as he would have. Kokichi settled under the sheets, slightly thankful the bed was big enough for them both... Well then again, Kokichi was relatively small for his size, much like the ever angry Saionji. His body automatically made him move and take actions wile his mind was far too busy collecting the cracks of his mask, carefully stringing them back together to avoid being so vulnerable again like he had. As his mind and body were separated, he reached out for the detective but stopped, his mind catching up with him, tearing him away from getting any closer and instead to just wrap his arms around himself instead, dejecting himself from even daring to hug the other boy. 

Shuichi had gotten under the covers with the other boy, and noticed the attempt that the other had made to try and get close to him. He didn’t know why, but he felt a painful pang in his chest when Kokichi had resorted to hugging himself instead of reaching out more for him. He didn’t want to see the other so alone... so, he changed that. Shuichi leaned forward slowly, moving his arms slowly to gently wrap around the frame of the smaller boy. He gave the boy a soft smile, mumbling softly “ I don’t mind this... if you want to stay close....” A slightly blush formed on his upper cheeks, flustered by the fact that they were so close but also rather soothed by the purple haired boy’s close proximity. 

The lilac eyes widened suddenly once he was pulled in by the other, breath hitching for a moment. His mind scrambled around frantically, confused on what to do. Accept? Reject? Stay still hoping it'd stop? After what felt like an eternity the purple haired liar gradually moved his arm away from his lithe body and around Shuichi, pulling himself closer to his chest like the fearful child Shuichi had just seen through the glimpse of his eyes. At this angle something was catching the detective's inquisitive eyes. There appeared to e something under the orange and purple scarf he wore-wait... Why did he wear that to bed? 

The smile on Shuichi’s face from the other hugging him back slowly faded into something more serious. Once he had noticed that the was something under that purple and orange scarf the purple haired boy had worn to bed... he wanted to know what it was. But, he didn’t want to disturb the other at all. So, he tried to move his head closer to the other, not realizing the implications that it might have, just wanting to get a better view of what could be on the back of the other’s neck. As the crazy barista would say, luck was on his side as Kokichi had tuckered himself out from the running, the chill of winter outside, the panicking, and the recollection of memories that he'd locked up in the depths of his mind. The detective was able to actually shift the scarf around, letting his eyes adjust to see some much paler discoloration skin below the fabric. Some prominent scaring or markings stuck out more under the moon's light. It didn't appear to be strangled markings or tattoos, but something was defiantly and terribly perverse with his neck. 

Shuichi had inspected the marking that were on the back of the other’s neck, trying to figure out what they could have came from. Something terrible must of had happened to Kokichi for him to even get the markings. He also must be self conscious of it too, because of the fact he always wears something to cover his neck up... there was a lot of trauma, of course, because of how, just how... broken the boy seemed to be. It almost reminded him of how at the convenience store the leader of D.I.C.E had listed a lot of traumatic events they had been through, and seemed to panic in the enclosed space... wait. It was a similar break down to the one Kokichi just had... all of the members of D.I.C.E wear bandannas around their necks... Kokichi was running from a D.I.C.E member but Haiji and the law enforcement were also chasing down a member... and the mental instability between the leader of D.I.C.E and Kokichi, along with personality... it was too similar. Way to similar. There was even more countless coincidences that Shuichi had caught on to that just can’t be ignored anymore. Like the incident where Shuichi was saved by the gang leader, then Kokichi being hurt when going ice skating the next day... But. When Shuichi had saw the sleeping figure in his arms, he didn’t want to think about the obvious clues and leads. He felt like.... he didn’t know how to even describe it. It was like he needed to protect him, even only having known him for a short amount of time. He’s probably been through so much already... so what good would questioning him again and arresting him do...? Shuichi decided to drop the subject in his mind, not wanting to think about it anymore. He backed his face away from Kokichi’s neck, but still remained close to him for support. He then slowly closed his eyes, letting himself drift off into sleep instead of trapping himself in his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several notes - Kokichi's backpack is an inside out one, sporting a different color, that way he can hid D.I.C.E. shoes and switch out when needed. He ran around the house once as the leader, then one with his normal shoes. For the leader's tracks to vanish into the street, he carefully waked backwards like the kid in The Shining, because snow.  
> When Shuichi had told him, he'd be there and protect him, that hit a nerve.
> 
> VERY IMPORTANT  
> \------------------  
> Kokichi in this story also has a fear of ceilings when trying to sleep, due to them being above him and having such a flat surface. I can guarantee you that, no this AU is NOT a simulation. It is NOT a dream Kokichi has before he dies. This is NOT some type of reincarnation/do-over of a previous life aka, the real game. There is a rational reason behind this fear, but that's for another time.


	16. Hurt Me Once Shame On Me, Hurt Me Twice-Crap!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi, maybe you shouldn’t have taken Shuichi’s hat...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that Archives ate up a note so I'm going to hafta' retype it.   
> There are 12 members of D.I.C.E. in this AU fic. Yeah i know it has 10 members, but i miscounted them when we started this fic. So it 11 at the time. The whole dice thing got me thinking. Dice have 6 sides, their logo are like two dice. So 6 and 6 is 12.   
> Members are Kokichi, Rantaro, Leon, Komaeda, Kazuichi, Miu, Saionji, Gonta, Gundham, Ibuki, Hagekure, and Yuta (Asahina's little bro from Another Episode. Why? Cuz' he deserved better)

As dawn hit the house, the aroma of pancakes filled the air as Shuichi woke from his night's sleep. He found himself looking up to the ceiling, something light straddling him and holding his wrists down as he hazily tried to move about. That was when a sharp grin entered his peripheral, showing Kokichi's smile. " Heeey Mister Detective~ Wakey, wakey~." he snickered out, " We had a loooooot of fun last night, you dog you~ Who knew playing cops and robbers was so kinky~." He winked to the now fully awakened detective before letting go and flopping beside him, clutching his gut and cackling manically, " Ahahahahahaha! I-I-i'm lying-I'm lying! Or am I?" He asked in a rather serious tone before sputtering into laughter again. 

The wake up call that the detective had gotten from the trouble maker had sent his head in a spin and made his cheeks burn a bright red. By even just suggesting that the two of them did something like that made him very flustered and very embarrassed. Shuichi looked over at him with a soft pout on his lips and his face bright red like a tomato. “ W... We defiantly didn’t do anything like that!” He protested, looking off to the side out of embarrassment. The laughter was a pleasant difference from what had happened just before they went to sleep though... Shuichi was happy that Kokichi seemed to be in a much better state, at least. He even had enough energy to be teasing Shuichi this early in the morning... 

There was some harsh knocks on the room's door before Kaito stuck his head in, opening the door ajar, " Hey ya' guys doin' okay in he-ACK!" A pillow was smacked right into him, letting Kokichi slip onto the deflated mattress on the ground. 

The purple imp pulled up a blanket and barked at Kaito, " Jeeeeez Momo, one of us coulda' been naked, knock first!" 

Kaito snarled, removing the pillow from his face and glared, " Told y' not to call me that... And I did knock you lil' pes-Oh my god! You popped the bed too?! Uggggh!" 

" Uggggh!" Kokichi mimicked the other purple headed boy. 

Kaito huffed and went back to glaring down at him, " Oh hush! Yeesh... How did you manage to sleep with him Shuichi?" 

Kokichi's impish smile slide on, " By cuuuuddling me~! Jealous~?" 

The other's face went from irritated to just pissed off, " No one would want to get near you, ya' lil' psycho!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when the two purple haired boy’s began to argue, getting flustered when Kokichi actually had said that they had cuddled to get to sleep...which wasn’t entirely wrong... He avoided eye contact, glancing to the side out of embarrassment. He mumbled softly, not liking to be a person who would lie to his friends. Even about something like this. “ Th... The bed was deflated in the middle of the night... I... it wasn’t comfy to sleep on, so I....” He bit his lip before speaking barely audibly, “ I-I let him sleep in my bed with me...” 

The two purple headed males looked over to him, shocked that he came out and admitted it. This gained Kokichi a cocky smirk to taunt Kaito with. Shuichi's old childhood friend blinked a few time and frowned, " Dude, you could have gotten the air pump. You don't know where he's been." 

" Nishis-h-hey! Least he doesn't smell like a astronaut wannabe'." The smaller boy pouted out, folding his arms and turning his back away from the entrance. 

" I am too one! I'm just in trainin' ya' lil' weasel..." The trainee spat out, having a tricky morning, not wanting to deal with the other's antics. 

Shuichi was surprised to what extent the other two boys seemed to dislike each other... It would be nice if all of his friends could get along, but the detective assumed that wasn't going to happen between these two...it was either Kokichi giving up his taunting or Kaito giving up his proud and quick to irritate attitude towards the other. The navy haired boy sighed, getting up out of bed and physically standing between the two. He faced towards Kaito with his usual soft and awkward smile on his face. " U... Um... If I'm not mistaken, I smell pancakes downstairs, right...? I'd like to have the chance to eat this morning... S-So let's just break this off now and settle your differences after as long as it takes to eat...?" 

Kaito was the first to stop and nodded upon hearing his friends suggestion, " R-Right, right. You'll need it if you're ever goin' back. Best get ya' some grub..." He frowned a bit, unhappy that his anger gotten his attention before the health of his friend did. He rubbed the back of his neck, scratching small bristles of purple hair, sighing out, " Sorry Shuichi... Okay, c'mon ya' lil' raccoon ya' heard 'em, we're gonna' go eat." He gave a concerned smile to his long term friend as an apology as he walked off. Kokichi had looked over his shoulder and snorted lightly much like Saionji would do when Kaito became the bigger man and stopped before the other ever could end the argument. 

Shuichi smiled more when Kaito had given an apology, not meaning to use his health problems as a way to guilt Kaito more... but at least it broke the two purple haired boys apart from arguing with one another. He watched as the trainee left the room, then turned over to Kokichi who had let out a soft snort. He sighed softly before walking up to the smaller boy, " I know that you don't really get along well with Kaito, but... I'd like it if you stayed around for breakfast at least. And at least tried to ignore him, for as long as you can at least..." He spoke, being more assertive at the moment while telling the boy in front of him things that he had wanted instead of just going with the flow like he had been doing for a while. " O... Okay?" He asked. 

" Pth- ohhh really? Trying to give me suggestions I didn't ask for? Nishishi, well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not listening to anyone anymore~." His grin came back, curved like a crescent moon as he chuckled, " Last night. That was one itty-bitty little slip up. However I'm never really like that anymore. If you're trying to be assertive, try harder. The stuttering is too cute to take seriously." The panta lover got, stretching, enjoying dodging Shuichi's attempt of being assertive. It was just how Kokichi was, getting into trouble, starting arguments, lying. All of it followed him night and day except for the small cracks that happen ever so rarely like last night. " Give me a good reason I should listen to you? because if it's because you saw that little fiasco, hehe, you're all wrong. If it's because it's your house, oh well. If it's because you're a detective, HA! Not going to work..." He wagged his finger, slightly scolding the other. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes slightly when Kokichi had scolded him for not being too assertive. He was right, the detective really did need to step up his confidence... he took a deep breath, trying to think of a reason to get the purple haired mischief maker to stay and to listen to him. Shuichi looked to be deep in thought for a couple of minutes before widening his eyes for a split second. He regained his composure, clearing his throat before looking Kokichi in the eye and saying with a more confident tone of voice. " It's..." He took a deep breath, refusing to stutter while speaking at this moment. " It's because I saw more than you think I did last night, after you fell asleep. I know more things now and pieced more things together than you probably know, because of what I saw and realized. If you stay here and eat with us for breakfast, I'll tell you what you were trying to hide." 

The smaller male quirked a brow, full of curiosity. Initially he had thought Shuichi was using some type of blackmailing he had somehow gained. Kokichi knew the people in this town, knew them well, hardly anyone knew anything about him but the orphanage's care taker and the chief of police. He doubted Hasegawa would tell a new comer, let alone a detective. And Haiji wanted to keep the past buried down below. His eyes narrowed as the boy continued. He couldn't think of anything the other would have saw last night... Did he somehow manage to see past the panic and pin point how Kokichi was deep down in the tangled wires of his mind? " ..... See, I know you're playing me... But I'll cooperate~." He grinned with a rather sinister expression. He walked past Shuichi not saying a word or giggling, leaving behind a cold tension. 

Shuichi could feel the tension in the air after the other boy had left the room without a sound. Did... did he really do the right thing? Sure, he was confident and he was assertive in what he had wanted, but the detective didn’t know if he had liked the tense outcome that came out of it. The serious and sinister side of Kokichi was kind of freaking Shuichi out a little... what would he even tell the other about what he had found out? Should he tell him about everything he had deduced? Or should he just tell him about the markings he saw on the back of the other boy’s neck? Well... Shuichi told himself that it was a problem to solve after breakfast. A few moments after Kokichi had left the room, the navy haired boy had followed behind him. 

Downstairs the heavy atmosphere dissipated away from the detective as the boundless side of Kokichi returned at full force, bouncing over, chatting with Kaede and Kaito, merrily, " Oh! Oh! Can I spend the night again sometime?! We could stay up late, swapping manly stories and in the morning I can make waffles!" 

Kaito wasn't going to argue... or at the very least, not as much, more of an adult ordering a kid to stop jumping around, " No, this was a one night thing, so calm your ass down and enjoy your pancakes." 

Maki complied as she gave a plate for the spastic purple imp, " Agreed, now take a seat." Kokichi took the plate and pouted slightly, cooperating with them, possibly due to the influence of Shuichi. Kaito sat beside him at one of the heads of the table, despite not wanting to be near the boy and started to chow down on his breakfast. Maki's eye caught the sight of the detective and smiled slightly, " Morning. Might I ask what the sudden scream was last night?" 

" That was just me spooking him, nishishi~!" Kokichi replied for the other quickly. 

Shuichi barely had time to process the sudden change of atmosphere in the room before Maki had greeted him and asked him a question about last night, then even barely got to answer that when Kokichi had replied for him. Shuichi paused for a second before nodded with a nervous smile on his face “ U... Um, yeah, he tried to scare me last night... it kinda worked too...” He spoke with a soft tone of voice. 

Kaede walked over and handed a Shuichi a plate, then practically ushering him over to the table so he could sit down and eat something. She then glanced over to Kokichi with a playful smile on her face, “ You know, if you really do want to come over again, scaring the person who let you bunk with him isn’t a good way to do it.” 

The mischievous rascal snickered, " Really? I thought it'd make more of an impression honestly." 

Kaito raised a brow to the smaller boy, " How is scaring someone impressionable...? I agree with Kaede, that comes off more as something else." 

Kokichi's infamous grin slid onto his face as he ate small parts of his meal, " I don't know... I mean ghosts sure have made an impression on you, right?" 

The other's cheeks flushed with a tint of red from either embarrassment for that being brought up or rage... More than likely the first, " Stop screwin' around, I told ya' ghosts don't scare me!" 

Maki finally sat down and gave them both a warning look, " Kaito, no yelling. Kokichi, no teasing." The two looked to her and then down to their food. 

" Yes ma'am..." They both said at the same time. At least Maki had the presence to settle a dispute quickly, for Kaede and Shuichi's sake. 

Both Kaede and Shuichi mentally sighed when the two purple haired boys had to be calmed down by the only person in the room who could actually scare the both of them. Shuichi watched the both of them settle down while he sat down at the table, starting to eat the breakfast that was made for him with a comfortable smile. This wasn’t the first time he’s thought this, of course, but he knew he much rather preferred living with and being around friends almost all of the time rather than living alone in the city and barely seeing his close co-workers. Kaede noticed the smile on Shuichi’s face while he was eating, that making her mood that much better even with the two other boys bickering and arguing. 

Once the group was nearing the end of their meals with small chatters, mainly from Shuichi's three roommates, Maki started to put up the dishes but stopped upon seeing Kokichi's food was only picked, " Hey you need to eat some more, if not you'll pass out like Shuichi." 

Kokichi huffed out, " Maybe you should cook better-I'm lying!" He quickly saved himself before facing the force of the crimson dressed girl, " It's hard to eat at a place that's not home is all, or around friends." He placed his hands up to shield himself from the girls glare, smiling nervously. 

Maki sighed a tad, " I thought you were friends with Shuichi." 

Kokichi's eyes shifted to the detective before returning his gaze back to her, " More oooooof, acquaintances for now~." He grinned, clasping his hands together, making her shrug it all off. 

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi at his refusal to eat breakfast then thought to the conversation the two of them shared earlier before coming down there to eat. Shuichi thought to himself for a moment, thinking if he should really be assertive and pushy to show Kokichi he meant business... or to just let it go because the boy really didn’t seem like he wanted to eat. The comment about only being acquaintances subconsciously struck him though, which had influenced his design more than expected. “ Hmm...” Shuichi spoke softly in his usual awkward tone to try and hide the intent behind his words, “ But, didn’t you say before we came down here, you would at least eat with us a little bit?” 

The violet eyes snapped to Shuichi, making their owner's smile falter momentarily before it widened, giving a small glare, the type that would make someone think along the lines of, ' You cheeky bastard'. He scoffed before eating a bit more despite Kaito's sudden shock. " Whoa... Dude you train him him or somethi-NRGN!" Kaito strained himself as his shin was hit under the table. 

" You okay?" Maki asked her friend. 

Kaito replied through clenched teeth, " 'M fine!" Shuichi felt satisfied with the fact that he had been confident for once in his decision and that it had seemed to pay off as he watched the smaller purple haired boy begin to eat his food. Even... if it did end up with Kaito getting kicked in the shin, it was progress for Shuichi at least. He replied to Kokichi’s glare with an almost innocent smile on his face while he leaned his elbows on the table. 

A while later, Maki was then fine with the amount of food the small boy had eaten and signaled him to shoo, " Well, I need to get going. I'll be back later." She grabbed her coat and purse, walking out, tugging the tallest male by the wrist, " You're coming with, you need to go calm down." Kaito hand't even gotten a say before he was dragged out, flailing pitifully to Kaede, nearly about to object but was canceled out by the door closing. 

Kokichi sighed lightly, " Thank you for the food Kaede... Now if you'll excuse me, I need to do my daily stretches or I'll get all tense." He winked, sending a smile to the girl before scuttling off into another room, snagging Shuichi's wrist just as Maki had done to his friend. Away from Kaede the boy tapped his foot against the wood floor. 

Kaede hadn’t expected the sudden drag-away of her friends, blinking when all four of them had suddenly disappeared. “ Um...” She spoke softly and confused. 

Shuichi let out a slight yelp when he was dragged away from the kitchen, practically tripped over his own feet while following the purple haired boy. Once Kokichi had stopped, the detective noticed his foot tapping against the floor. He gave him a small and awkward smile, knowing that he had to decide now on what all to tell him. “ So... um... was breakfast... nice?” He spoke with an awkward laugh at the end, scratching he back of his head and glancing towards the floor and off to the side. 

The shorter male narrowed his eyes before giving him a wide grin, " Yeah sure, whatever... So... What was this 'thing' you supposedly deduced Mister Detective, huh?" He leaned in closer as if challenging Shuichi. " Just so you know, it's hard for me to comply with many people, so that was as good as it was going to get. So come on, come on, tell me what you promised." If he was an more excited, Shuichi would have sworn he'd start bouncing in place. 

Shuichi backed up slightly as Kokichi had leaned in closer towards him to try and regain his personal space. He had to make a decision in the next second or two on how much he wanted to tell the smaller boy, trying to make such an important decision at the drop of a hat. Shuichi took a deep breath, his mind racing as he spoke, “ Um... well... I think I know a lot about you, because of those marks on the back of your neck.” 

Kokichi blinked a moment, eyes watching Shuichi before his eyes narrowed down to the kind of expression of not technically disgust... More of bitterness. He folded his arms, rolling his eyes away from Shuichi, " Oh... Let me guess... You think I'm with those weirdos-not just one, but the damn leader, because I constantly hide these?" He asked, removing the orange and purple printed fabric where the paler skin, small scars, and markings stuck out so much more than they had last night from the lighting. They looked rather... painful to say the least, even if they were fully healed. It looked like the skin was always slightly bruised even though it wasn't. " Wow... Congratulations." he slowly clapped, his grin gone as he spoke in a low tone, " You've come to the conclusion of Haiji. Way to go. Have you even seen the D.I.C.E. leader's neck anyways? Where's you're proof Mister Detective?" His mouth turned into that of a small bit of barring his teeth, " You think I enjoy hiding these? You think I do it because I'm their dumb-ass leader? You think I'm really that connected with those freaks?" 

Shuichi was... quite taken aback from the sudden venomous reaction from Kokichi about the whole subject. He didn’t even bring up his assumption that he was D.I.C.E’s leader... so either he was being defensive because people like Haiji had figured it out before, and he certainly liked to avoid the truth... or he was just tired of people assuming things. Shuichi mentally shook himself. He couldn’t get manipulated now, he had come so far and he couldn’t loose his ground due to a few choice words and guilt. With a shaky breath, Shuichi started to speak again. “ I... I’m not like Haiji. I don’t think you enjoy hiding the marks either. I don’t think you do it just because your D.I.C.E’s leader. And yes, I do think your connected with that gang. I have my evidence, so don’t just assume I didn’t do my homework because people like Haiji in the past have just arrested you on a whim and a flimsy piece of evidence. Yes, I have evidence, but you’re also smart and cunning and definitely wouldn’t let yourself be caught so easily. I’m not saying you’re the leader of D.I.C.E because of the marks on your neck, I’m saying the marks on your neck are only one piece of the puzzle that is your involvement with the gang and with this entire town and the history of people in it. So don’t assume I’m like every other detective out in this town, or... or you’ll be thinking how false that is after I’ve unraveled you and your past.” 

Kokichi's anger only perked a notch, giving a harsh glare to Shuichi, " Okay, what's your proof? Do you have any photos, fingerprints, blood samples, articles of clothing? W-Why the hell do you think these marks links me to 'them'?" He spat out as if referring to D.I.C.E. as some scum hidden in the town like most people around the place subjected them as. " You think they all have these marks? Because-heheh-Lemme' tell you something. I highly doubt that all of their 'dads' strapped an experimental device he got from his company onto them just so they wouldn't cause trouble... You want to know my past, then go on, ask~." His grin came back full force, eye glimmering, waiting for him to take the bait but also setting himself up for the evidence the detective had gathered. He more than likely would tell Shuichi in some cryptic manner though... Either that or just lie through his teeth even more. 

With the last line that Kokichi spoken about, referencing that his father had put an experimental device on him, something clicked in his head. Shuichi widened his eyes. How could he forget... he already had made a prediction earlier about who the leader of D.I.C.E was, he just failed to make the connection before. Well, at least he had made it now, so he could provide an acceptable answer to the anger that the smaller boy seemed to have at the moment for the detective. “ You’ve just given me another piece of evidence, a motive.” Something in Shuichi’s brain clicked more as he kept speaking, “ The reason why Haiji hates you... Why a certain case is never brought up... Those scars on your neck... Why you’re so similar to the leader of D.I.C.E... Why both of your’s meltdowns are similar and have similar triggers... Why there’s barely any information on you in files at the agency... Rumors that might actually have some truth to them... The piece you just mentioned about experimental devices being inflicted by a father... I may not have the whole story but together, but... your birth name isn’t Kokichi Ouma, is it?” 

Kokichi leaned away giving a rather confused expression. One that made his brow raise quite considerably and tilt his head, trying to connect the dots, " Excuse me? My birth name isn't my actual name...? W-What the..." The most damning thing was that he spoke as if he was genially confused, trying his best to slide the puzzle in his mind to why Shuichi would even think that. How would he have known his last name-he hadn't remembered that in years from so much suppression. He quickly grabbed the other's wrists, widening his eyes, " Y-You know my last name?! What is it?! All I can remember is Ouma-d-do you actually know the full part of it?! Maybe-maybe I can finally remember my real mom and dad-I've blocked that information away from all the shit I've gone through-Maybe they're still alive!" Oh boy... Shuichi had just opened Pandora's Box... 

Shuichi jumped a bit when Kokichi had grabbed into his wrists and gotten closer to him, tensing up from the sudden contact. The detective was... shocked from the other boy’s reaction. It seemed so... genuine... not like the lies he was used to. But... from the sounds of it, Kokichi remembered his last name wasn’t the last name he remembered it being. This might be a really good lead into what’s been going on... so Shuichi might as well tell him to see if it tries to ring a bell, even if the whole thing was a ruse or not. “ K... Kimishun Daisachi ...” he spoke hesitantly “ Does that sound familiar to you...?” 

The brightness in Kokichi's eyes slowly faded away, his expected expression wearing down as he let go and backed away, " No..." He looked pretty upset, but had automatically and quickly answered the the shy detective. Shuichi couldn't tell if he was just upset in general or if he'd rather not have the name brought up. All he knew, was that, that wasn't what Kokichi was seeking. It was like someone had flipped an off switch in him, resorting to being dull and unemotional. 

The detective felt incredibly guilty when he had seemed to deflate the hopes of the smaller boy...maybe he shouldn’t have brought this whole thing up at all, it would have been better than getting the other’s hopes up for nothing. Unless it was a lie...? No, the way the purple haired boy was acting was too real to be an act. Shuichi sighed softly, glancing up at him with an empathetic and guilty look on his face. “ I... I’m sorry...” 

The smaller boy gave out a sigh before putting his flamboyant scarf back on to hide his scars, " Ehh, it's fine. But no, I'm not him. Sorry to get your hopes up there Mister Detective." At this point, he wasn't giving a snide grin, quick retorts of defense or remarks, just brushing off the facts. " Welp... better, call 'mom', let 'em know I'm fine. Oh and by the way..." The boy suddenly switched to a vicious expression, " Don't tell people about my neck... You try having daddy's little tracking device on you, then get back with me..." Kokichi then left the room, getting his cell-phone out. The navy haired boy stiffened a bit at the sinister expression that Kokichi had given him in regards to keeping the scars on his neck a secret between the both of them. He then nodded before the other boy had walked away and getting his cell-phone out, not verbally agreeing to secrecy but physically agreeing to it. When Kokichi had turned on his phone however, there were several missed calls from Rantaro, but no voicemails or texts. Usual worried Mom tactics... Kokichi sighed loudly, " Oh my goooood, Rantaro! Ugh... This is why I should never text to Hagekure when Rantaro's phone is charging... Damn guy never responds to what I send. Says ' ' I've got it 'mon', friggen'..." He went onto rambling and impersonating one of the many roommates he had, letting Shuichi hear. The guy sure had a lot roommates... " Rantaro you nerd, you're phone loves to cancel texts when it's charging... Though it's also my bad that I texted Hagekure to tell you I was fine." Shuichi heard Kokichi impersonating one of the many roommates he seemed to have, the detective getting a little smile on his face from the humor of the situation. Though... Shuichi did have to wonder why Kokichi had so many ‘roommates’. It was a little strange to say the least, but at least the purple haired boy had a lot of people to look after him and to be with. 

A bit later Hajime had pulled up to the cozy house, examining the tracks that had appeared last night before knocking at the front door to be greeted by the kind pianist, " O-Oh hey Kaede, I was wondering if Shuichi looks any better, see if he's up to finally go out-uhm..." he trailed off, his eyes and mind still wanting to investigate the tracks around the property, " ... S-Sorry about last night, Ishimaru called me and gave me the run down... Right as I was having dinner." He shook his head, classic Ishimaru... 

Kaede had smiled when she opened the door and listened to Hajime about wanting to see if Shuichi was there and to apologize for what had happened last night. Kaede shook her head “ No, no, it’s all right! Better safe than sorry, right? Anyway! Shuichi’s here, but the last I saw him Kokichi was dragging him away into another room claiming he needed to do his... morning ‘stretches’...?” 

Hajime's face went from pleased and glad that everything seemed okay and that Kaede was always more than helpful, to confusion. " Wha-Wait, Kokichi is here? What in the hell did I miss last night? Ugh this is what happens when I ask Chiaki out for dinner I swear..." he grumbled to himself, rubbing his temples. 

Kaede giggled softly to Hajime’s reaction to Kokichi being over, knowing that she should probably keep up the lie that Shuichi had told Haiji about last night... ” Yeah, he came over to watch a movie with us. Shuichi invited him over.” 

The brunette gave out a soft sigh, " Oh boy-wait, he invited him over too? Oh jeez... Might as well... Drive him to work." Hajime cringed slightly. Unlike Kaito, he could restrain himself when it came to the purple imp, but even he had his limits at time, " Let 'em know. I'll be out in the car-oh and good luck on Friday Kaede." He gave a smile before heading to the warmed up car. Kaede nodded and waved to Hajime when he had gone back out to his heated car, starting to head more into the house to tell Shuichi and Kokichi who was waiting for them in the car outside. 

With Kokichi he finally hung up and noticed the navy haired male smile slightly before it went contagious and spread to his own face, " I should invite you to my place sometime, maybe I'll find something else about you instead nishishi~!" 

Shuichi looked at the contagious smile on Kokichi’s face before glancing off to the side at the mention of an invite to stay over at his place. “ U-Um, I don’t think you’d find much about me... at least not that easily...” 

Kokichi only pressed further, the smile forming it's way into the always contorted grin he wore, " Not that easily huh~? Oooh! is that a challenge I hear~?! Because if sooo, then you've got one, nishishi~!" Oh boy, there's that sinister and mischievous face Shuichi had come to know... 

Shuichi widened his eyes when he saw the familiar mischievous smile of the trouble maker that was standing in front of him. Part of him thought he shouldn’t have told him something that would sound like a challenge... he smiled nervously “ W-Well... um... sure...? I-I’d um... like to see you try...” 

Kokichi's grin widened, absorbing the words that Shuichi was giving him. It made him snicker deviously more then his normal giggles, " Ohhh this'll be fuuuun~..." His mind quickly switched to another topic to not frighten the challenge away, " Oh by the way, when would you like to go to Kit's? I'm looking forward to you treating me out~." 

Shuichi had thought for a moment about when would be the best time to take Kokichi out to the pizzeria. “ Um...” He thought out loud “ Well... when are you free next? I most likely can make the time to do it when you’re free or when you want to...” 

Kokichi winked to him, " Nishishi, when ever really, tomorrow, today, doesn't matter~!" He gave the other a wide grin before turning away only to nearly bump into the Kaede, " Whoa-Hey Kaede~! Nishishi, what's up?" 

Kaede looked at Kokichi as he nearly bumped into her, a kind smile on her face. “ Hey! I just came to tell you guys that Hajime just got here and asked for Shuichi. But then once I told him Kokichi was here as well, he said he’d drive him to work before Shuichi and Hajime went to work!” 

Shuichi was slightly stunned when he heard Hajime had volunteered to drive Kokichi to work, knowing very well he didn’t get along with the purple haired boy... he must be feeling in a good mood today? “ Okay....!” Shuichi spoke “ We’ll be right out!” 

" Have a nice day and rehearsal Kaede~!" He grinned, waggling his fingers as a mischievous goodbye before heading out into the car with Shuichi. " Heeeey~! Komadea told me to tell you quote, unquote, ' Hello stud-muffin'-" 

Hajime quickly looked back and glared, " He did not, so stop it... And this is why you're riding in the back behind the wired bars..." 

" Oooh! Been a while since I've been behind one of these~! Oh, are you going to rough me up~?" He giggled only to get Hajime to take in a deep breath to calm down. 

Shuichi got into the car with Hajime and Kokichi after he had said goodbye to Kaede. He listened to the bickering between Hajime and Kokichi, knowing that it was to be expected. The two didn’t exactly get along very well.... Shuichi then looked over at Hajime after he had taken a deep breath, giving him a soft smile, “ Nice to see you. And thanks for offering to drive Kokichi to work... that was really nice of you.” 

" Heh, thanks... Well honestly I'd rather do it and let Kaede not have a grating headache befor the rehearsal." 

Kokichi interjected, snickering, " Awwww that's so sweet~! Also you should get a real car that has the wire bars, this is just chicken wire, poorly taped." Suddenly the wiring mesh was easily taken down, letting Kokichi put his arms around the front seat's head rests with a large grin. 

Hajime twitched knowing the boy was right next to him, " ... God I hate it when you do shit like that..." 

" Love you toooo~! So what're you two doing today? Bustin' perps? Antagonizing the town? Looking into files one shouldn't?" 

Shuichi wasn’t surprised when Kokichi had easily taken down the chicken wire mesh that was, knowing he should have expected it from someone like him. He then listened to Kokichi ask what they were doing today as the purple haired boy leaned towards the front seats. “ I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing today. But even if I did, detectives are not allowed to disclose heavy details of a case to the public...” 

Hajime smiled and moved a hand to signal to his fellow detective, " Thank you Shuichi. See Kokichi, we can't just tell you." The purple haired boy rolled his eyes as the car parked at last, the key turning off the warming comfort of the car. 

Once they went inside, Kokichi sighed dramatically, swooping an arm to his forehead, " Ohh woe is me, I have to walk instead of skate today. Oh, oh well. Anyways, thanks detective-Oh and Mister detective..." He gave slight glare with a devilish grin before going into the back kitchen, making the other male look to Shuichi, expecting an answer, but would be fine if he got none. 

Shuichi had watched Kokichi go into the back kitchen, blinking slightly at the comment and devilish grin that had followed suit. He noticed that Hajime was looking towards him for an answer of some sorts about what had happened between the two of them...but he didn’t really know how to explain it without giving things that Kokichi didn’t want anyone else to know away... Shuichi sighed softly, “ He spent the night at our place and he bunked with me in my room... it was eventful yet uneventful at the same time...” 

" Oh good god, that sounds like a nightmare and a half... Though you look like you've slept well even with him... Thankfully for you, I managed to get us a spot to go check into the institution while chief is out and about, paranoid with D.I.C.E. considering he saw the leader yesterday and they have yet to come out in the past few days. Just so you know, I don't know what we're going to be looking for in particular, but Chiaki was able to get you a pass to talk with some nurses, maybe a doctor if we're lucky." The brunette sat down at his typical spot, regretting he didn't have much to do since Kiibo and Ishimaru had taken the liberty to write out the reports and paperwork. 

Shuichi nodded, seeming rather interested about all he information he could get from the institution... he could learn even more about the rumors that have been told to him by Chiaki, and maybe even more things about the people in this town and the history of it all together... “ I’ll have to thank her when I see her next then...!” He spoke with a happy attitude and a soft smile on his face. 

Hajime scoffed a small chuckle, shaking his brown locks, " Don't get you're hopes up too much. We might not find out much due to file shenanigans." He said calmly as the waiter and chef came out to greet them both. " You know, you're less annoying without your skates." 

Kokichi leaned into his personal bubble, " Ohhhh~?! Sounds like a chaaaallenge~!" 

Hajime only chuckled, nudging his elbow into Shuichi's before pointing lazily to the imp, " Look at how easy it is to rile him up." He gave a smug smirk. 

Kokichi held his own grin, having the challenge now present itself fully, " Aww, you don't get it..." He handed out the drinks, " I don't get riled up... I get excited." 

" Gross..." 

" But I know what riles you up~!" His eyes sparkled with a midst of chaos and revenge. He would just hope his boss wouldn't cut in to his idiotic manners. 

Teruteru sighed, looking at Kokichi with a disappointed look on his face, “ Now, you’ve only just started your shift and you’re already starting a ruckus with him. Tone it down a little.” Shuichi had just merely watched the interaction between the three people in front of him, occasionally letting out a soft smile or even maybe chuckling softly to himself. He didn't really find to be Kokichi as annoying as everyone else seemed to, in fact, Shuichi had thought some of his teasing was actually kind of amusing. Well, he found it amusing when it wasn’t directed towards himself... other than that his teasing made the detective flustered or embarrassed most of the time, but almost never frustrating. Shuichi guessed he was just... different from everyone else. 

The waiter gave a large smile, throwing his hands up in front of him, " Nishishi, sorry, sorry! I apologize for disrupting the atmosphere... But not Hajime." he gave a wink before dashing back into the kitchen to avoid any other accusations. 

Hajime only rolled his eyes and gave an apologetic smile to his plump chef attired friend, " Sorry buddy, was just trying to get a point across is all. I don't know how his fuzzy little prickly brain works half of the time." He took a copious amount of a sip from his daily brew. 

Teruteru watched as Kokichi scurried away, looking back to Hajime and sighing softly “ No, no, it’s fine. I reckon he does this type of thing a lot of the time, so it’s not completely on ya’.” He crossed his arms. “ Anyway! I‘mma get back to what I do best!” The small chef then hurried back to his rightful place in the kitchen, a usual beaming smile on his face. 

Shuichi then glanced over at the superior detective, smiling softly. “ I was surprised to hear that you would offer a ride to him... seeing as how well you two get along.” 

Hajime rubbed his eyes, getting the left over sleep out, " I may not like him, but doesn't mean I won't help out, it's our job. Sides that, you're the one who suggested to be friends with him. What kinda' partner would I be if I didn't at the very least help you." he gave a soft sigh from the warmed liquid, picking here and there at a small snack the chef had brought them. Once the two were done, Kokichi hadn't come back out to say a farewell, he might have still have a bit of a grudge for earlier. 

But for now Hajime was able to distract his thoughts once they got out and into the snowy field and into the car, " So... Still think it's him? I mean... I know Haiji thinks it, but, you're definitely not like him." He said, turning the key for the car to give off warm air and hum with livelihood. 

Shuichi looked over to Hajime when they were both in the car, not expecting the sudden questioning about his opinions on whether Kokichi is guilty or not...The detective also had to think about how much information he could actually give away on the subject...he thought for a good long moment before finally telling to Hajime. “ Well... I don’t think it’s entirely impossible...” He mumbled softly, “ There’s certainly some hints that may allude to him... but there isn’t any solid evidence that proves it’s him, not to mention a motive behind it all.” 

The older detective let out a soft sigh, patting his partner on the shoulder, " Well... Look at it this way. If he is our guy, well... D.I.C.E. will fall and we'll have caught the mastermind behind it all. But if he isn't, you get to stay friends with him..." He tried to give off a faint smile, what he had just said out loud was now upsetting him. " I'm sorry-That sounded much better in my head..." He spoke more softly. here he was trying to make Shuichi feel better, but he just couldn't grasp it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_mhdBmsMYk   
> Basically when Kokichi kicks Kaito


	17. Welcome To The Land Of Broken Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The institution...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning, there is an OC in this one. More info on them after the chap.

Thankfully the car parked after a good drive to a rather large industrious building. Hajime got out and rubbed his hands to keep up the warmth from the now chilly outside. With warmed breath spilling out of his mouth, he led the other in and went straight to a nurse at a hospital type of table, over the counter like. " Hello, we're here to ask a few things if that's okay." He got out his badge and the nurse nodded before smiling gently. 

" Sure, what do you two need help with?" 

Shuichi also got out his badge and showed it to the nurse at the counter. “We’re here to question some members of staff that have been employed here for a large amount of time, nurses and some doctors if they’re available at the moment.” 

The nurse typed into their computer and thought, scrolling around, " Uhm... Mister Shingetsu is booked, so are most doctors and nurses... You could probably go down to the record vault room where our janitor works. His second job is to keep the archives updated. You might be able to catch some people in the break room. Just show them your badges and you should be fine." 

" Right, thanks." Hajime pushed Shuichi's back a bit, signaling him to lead as the nurse gave the navy haired male a map. 

Shuichi nodded and smiled towards the nurse who had given him the map, taking it and looking at it before beginning to walk and lead like Hajime had encouraged him to do. He then started to follow what seemed like the path to the record vault, following a few signs that were on the walls to point them in the right direction as well as using the map that was provided for them. Once they had arrived to the record vault, Shuichi slowly pushed open the door and glanced inside before speaking, “ H... Hello? Is there anyone here....?” 

Inside the room were bookcases full of boxes and files, none of them had a hint of dust or any grime, purely clean... In fact the entire room was spotless. The only thing other than all of the boxes was a desk with a computer settled on it. A man was sitting on a rolling chair, his feet on the side of the desk on, on the other while he had a brown hat bending down to cover his face. The only things noticeable was that the man had some type of alien logo on the hat, a white shirt under a green jacket, jeans, a belt full of cleaning supplies, and a mop leaning nearby. He seemed to be asleep... Hajime tilted his head and walked over, tapping on the desk, only to have the mop swiftly move up to his hand in the blink of an eye and stop right in front of Hajime's face, " What'd ya' want?" His accent was southern sounding... And not local-wise. In fact when he raised his heed, the detectives could see tired green disheveled eyes. This guy was defiantly not of their nationality. 

Shuichi was slightly stunned when all of a sudden the superior detective was being threatened with...a mop of all things. But he guessed it was accurate to their situation. The navy haired boy walked up next to Hajime, holding his hands up slightly before pulling out his badge quickly and showing the man in front of them. “W....We’re detectives, sir. We’d like to ask you some questions about certain topics regarding this institution.”

The thin lanky man skootched his boots off from his desk and cracked his neck after putting the mop to where it was originally. He brushed away his dark orange bangs and scratched his stubble, " Yeah, n' what'd be that? 'Cuz if it's a complaint, you're talking to the wrong person. If it's about arresting Shingetsu, be my guest." Hajime backed away, eyeing the man, just now coming to terms of being threatened with a mop...

Shuichi raised a brow at the mention of arresting the man, now interested in what the janitor may know about what’s actually going on in here besides just rumors and accusations without any actual proof to even back it up. “Well..., hypothetically.” He began, “ Why would you want us to arrest Shingetsu?” Shuichi asked, tucking his badge away and looking towards the janitor for a response. “Is there anything that’s considered to be illegal? And is there any physical evidence you can show us to support it...?”

The man sat up and put his green sleeved arms onto the desk and gave fairly unemotional look to the two, " 'Cuz he's an asshole. I mean, I may have seen 'em do some questionable things, but in my past job experience, it ain't worse than what I've done. Unfortunately, no, dun' got any evidence. Damn weasel is slippery. But anyways, he ain't done nothin' really qualified as illegal in a couple of years." He said, sitting back to crack his knuckles to get the sensation of his fingers back better.

Hajime narrowed his eyes, " And... What did you use to do?"

" Wouldn't you like to know."

" ... Right... And what's your name? Hajime inquired only to have a quick reply.

" I ain't the one comin' in here asking questions, so maybe you could answer one of mine. What's your names?"

The brunette gave out a small huff, not knowing dealing with a janitor was going to end like this, " Hinata Hajime, Saihara Shuichi." Waving a hand to his partner.

The janitor tilted his hat still with the tired expression laced on his face, " Eddy Donavan. And no, Eddy ain't my last name, or however you do it here."

Shuichi nodded when the three of them were done with an official introduced. “ Well, it’s nice to meet you, Eddy.” The navy haired boy spoke, trying to be polite in the situation, even if it was more of a questioning than anything. “And... asking questions is our job. So we’d appreciate in you doing your part and answering them. What kinds of things has Shingetsu done that don’t technically qualify as illegal. Or are there any rumors floating around that you can appraise or dismiss based off of your personal experience with him?”

Eddy yawned lightly, covering his hand over it, " Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Boy do I know.... Anyways... Well let's see, there's the whole testing on his kid, puttin' him here to study and have some readied I.V.'s on stat. Kid had to study for unhealthy lengths of time. IV was full of energy supplements when he looked like he was about to pass out. Constantly observed with cameras. Guy forced his son to study non-stop for days. Caught 'em sometimes not being able to focus, so he shined bright lights into the kid's eyes if he looked as if he was becoming tired at any time other than the short periods he was permitted to sleep. Kid was threatened with weapons and other physical abuse, though that was all a ploy. All of the kid's 'participation' in all of this was in the name of an experiment that would try to determine just how much mental and physical stress a child could take before reachin' their breaking point. Guy didn't get the experiment results he was hopin' for. He didn't see wrong in his way of doing things, n' instead started to consider the kid a failure as a test subject. Heard 'em once considering havin' another kid 'n restarting with a fresh test subject..... Though, that's what I've caught. Most 'round here say it's a rumor since he didn't allow most people to go near 'em... Sides that, most of the files went missin'. I looked, but nothin'... I testified along with some others. Guy is still on parole just in case, kid's at an orphanage." Hajime blinked, taking in such information, disturbed the department hadn't gotten much evidence or many witnesses.

Shuichi could feel chills running down his spine at the story in detail, disgusted that someone could do that to their own child and would even consider doing it again. He already knew this had happened, but the details are what pushed him over the edge... The lack of evidence was concerning as well, being that it was most likely destroyed so prying eyes couldn’t look into it. Shuichi nodded softly in response to the janitor’s words before remembering something that he should probably ask about. “ Was that the only occasion that a child was used as a test subject, that you know of? Or was there one previous to that as well?”

Eddy let out a sigh as he put his elbows back onto the desk to rest his head from vividly recalling some events and clicked his tongue, " Seen men get tortured less than that kid..." Shuichi was able to reel in the janitor's thoughts and mutterings. " Hmm, depends on the age. There was another subject-though he was given a test n' passed, having been 'cured'. But I'm damn sure it's a bit of that, the whole kid situation, n' Shingetsu's parole mixed it to where that kid could get out. I mean, why risk being exposed for more, even if the kid was tryin' ta get out anyways, right? I mean, all this happened roughly three years ago, though that kid came in 'bout six years ago. Shingetsu said he was violent, neurotic, manipulative, conniving lil' shit. Again, much like his own kid, not many people we're able to be involved with 'em till he started settlin' down and strived to be an 'exceptional member of society'. Kid spent a lot of time in his room... Twitched a whole lot, cried a whole lot, coward a whole lot. Ya' can only guess what that'd do to someone. Little to talk to, little to see others, no one to touch fer' three damn years. 'M surprised he didn't try 'n kill himself honestly. Guess he was too scared to go through with it."

Shuichi had listened to all the janitor had to say about another subject with a sullen face. Even though the reports of the experimenting has been one of the twisted things Shuichi had heard about while being a detective, he had to push past his emotions and think about it logically. The detective found that the story matched some of the rumors he had heard from Chiaki and the story he had heard from Nagisa about the other subject in the institution. Shuichi cupped his chin with his pointer finger and thumb, a habit he did whenever he was processing information and thinking about what more he wanted or needed to learn about it. “ Did you by chance ever see the other ‘subject’ or has anyone else in the building seen him that can provide a description of what he looks like...?”

Eddy's eyes narrowed as he looked at the detective before giving an honest smile, " 'Bout 5'9, a lil' chubby, green hair, lazy eye, ear piercings, short nose like a pug, hair a mess, buckteeth... Only a few people seen 'em before. As janitor, I was able to sneak by every once 'n a while."

Hajime tilted his head before giving a questioning look, " Was his name Kimishun Daisachi by any chance?"

The foreign man gave a smirk, " Well, someone's been tryin' to do their homework. Nope."

" E-Excuse me?" The brunette was taken back a bit, he did hear Chiaki say that name correctly right?

Eddy gave out a soft sigh, his smile lowering to his normal status, " He called himself that. Real name was Akihito Tajako. Why he used a false name is anyone's guess. Probably scared of givin' out any information so it could be used against him even more. They said he was heavily violent, manipulative, 'n good at pretending to be in despair. I didn't see it s a ruse, but that's how life goes sometimes. Prosecuted with that one too, and yet Shingetsu still has his job 'n diploma."

Shuichi widened his eyes at the new name that was mentioned, thinking about it a bit. The description didn’t match the description of Kokichi at all... maybe there was someone else who fit the description? He’d have to think about it later when he had more time and less questions to ask. Shuichi looked towards the man in front of them before asking yet another question, “ Do you know where he is now? If he goes under a different name? If he lives here?”

The older man closed his eyes as he picked up a pencil, fussing with it, " Possibly in town or moved out. Probably uses another name. Don't know, but I know fer sure he ain't livin' with his daddy anymore... So... Why all the questions?"

Hajime took a step in to help aid Shuichi, " Confidential, unless you're not lying, or answer me on what you use to do as a job."

Eddy's face stayed the same as his eye lids slowly opened to watch him carefully, " That's confidential... Anything else ya' gonna' be askin' me?"

Shuichi thought for a minute on if he had any other questions at all, looking down at the floor for a couple of moments before glancing up at the older man that was in front of them. " Can we see if there are any files in archive here that pertain to the people we're interested about knowing more. We'd like to eliminate any other possible leads or evidence before moving on..." Shuichi spoke, smiling at the man softly as he waited for a reply. Shuichi had hoped they could look through the files, and that they could at least find something from this visit...

Eddy got up with a small sigh, leaving the two for a moment, automatically knowing where to go. He browsed through a box and pulled out a packet of files before going back and dropping it onto the desk before taking his seat again. Hajime took hold of it and opened it for him and Shuichi to peer into the secrets... Though most of it was blacked out, no pictures, small documentation, and besides that, there was little to no information. Hajime frowned from the evidence, seeing old notes of keeping him away. Tied if he were to reach out, don't talk to him too long, give medication if needed, ignore the constant crying, having a constant lie detector on. The only thing nearing the beginning was basic information while the last pages were about the person getting better, not as violent, little lying, and extremely charismatic in a charming fashion. 

Shuichi read over what little documentation that there was in the box, committing everything to memory. He thought everything over for a moment, trying to find any connections this may have with the case that they were primarily working on. Why... why did the ending description of the personality after the experimentation seem so familiar. He just didn't know how to place it. He thought for a couple more moments, staring at the files in front of him before something clicked. But... Shuichi thought it might be too much of a stretch just to go off of. He looked over towards Hajime, to see if the superior detective had similar thoughts or if Shuichi was just making connections that probably weren't there. " Doesn't the personality after the person getting better... remind you of someone? That we both know?" 

" Yup... Far too well. You think the little purple shit is him?" 

Eddy raised a brow, his expression sullen from hearing the two go on and slightly annoyed and tired at this point, " Was my description inaccurate?" 

" Well yeah. He could have easily changed his name, dyed his hair... Though it wouldn't explain not having holes in his ears or the sudden height and nose..." 

The man listened, folding his arms, stomach not really sitting well on the two, " So you think it's someone entirely different, heh..." He shook some of locks of hair, having the alien badge gleam some light off and on from the overhead light, " What, did the kid turn violent again? He kill someone? What are ya' gonna' do? Take 'em back here? Lock 'em up?" 

Hajime gave a subtle glare, " It's none of your concern-" That was when Eddy stood up instead of slumping over as he did when he got the documents. He was... much taller than Hajime as he looked down at him. 

" How is it not exactly my concern son?" The brunette's sudden confidence was slowly deflating. This was starting to become a rather touchy subject and the nonchalant routine was slowly petering away. 

Shuichi reacted slightly quickly to the situation, stepping towards Hajime and Eddy and trying to get between them with the least amount of fighting or arguing. " Hey, let's all just... calm down. We're investigating some recent incidents and have some suspicion that it's strongly connected to this institution in some way, shape, or form. But, we really do appreciate your answers...!" Shuichi internally sighed, feeling at the moment like a mediator to try and prevent things from escalating. Kind of like how Rantaro would seem to mediate as well... wait. Shuichi widened his eyes. Something about this whole thing seemed a little... off... or almost fishy in a way. It seemed like the description of what had happened to the patient as well as what might have caused the scars on the back of Kokichi's neck, not to mention his personality... but the person who matched the description seemed to be none other than the motherly friend that Kokichi had...Or kind of in a way. After Shuichi had paused for a couple of moments, he looked back up to the janitor. " Sir... how many times have you actually seen this patient in person...?" 

" You callin' me a liar boy?" His eyes zoned in on Shuichi, and without that hat, his gaze was rather unnerving. It was poking a bull or a bear, maybe a shark or crocodile. 

Hajime cleared his throat standing in front of his partner, rather he get short end instead, " No, he's just asking how many times you've seen him is all." 

Eddy was not declining to back down, no stutter, no nervousness, he stayed up close and personal to them both. It was safe to say this man wasn't going to back down. If he had been a detective, he'd defiantly be the hardest of the hard boiled in the force. " Enough times to see someone be broken that's for damn sure..." Hiis thoughts suddenly swept to what Shuichi ad said before asking. " Incidents huh? Let me guess, the lil' shitty gang in town right?" He tapped his boot rather strongly waiting for a reply, which Hajime confirmed. " Ohhh well, why didn't ya'll just say so? I'd more than be glad to have a piece of your boss. I'ma just tell you now... I don't know about them, don't care about them, but if ya'll insinuating a broken person here who fixed themselves back up is one of those shits, ya' can kindly go fuck yourself." 

Hajime gave a hint of a glare, " Aren't you cheery..." He muttered under his breath. 

" Trust me, this ain't even close to one of the worse moods I've been in..." 

Shuichi really needed to get to the bottom of this while he still had the chance... even though Eddy's attitude may pose a big problem, Shuichi's interrogated much scarier people though. Nothing could really happen to him, because if the janitor was smart enough he would know not to attack anyone, let alone a detective... and if something did manage to happen, Hajime was there to support him the whole time. He had to be brave, no more hiding under his hat. After taking a deep, Shuichi looked up at the intimidating man and spoke. " The evidence we found here as well as evidence we have gathered in the past regarding a certain suspect conflicts with your description of the person you have claimed to see as the patient. We aren't perusing this person because they were fixed here, we're perusing them because of their potential connection to this institution and it's staff. So, yes. Despite what my partner had said earlier, I do think that there is a high possibility you're lying and using intimidation to divert the subject. You also won't disclose your former occupation to us which is suspicious, not to mention you're showing some signs of someone who could potentially be lying. You can make this easy and try to convince us you're telling the truth, or by speaking the truth. Or we can just take you in under suspicion of being an accomplice." 

The older male gave a sigh and sat down, he knew how detectives worked considering his past and rubbed tired eyes, " Ugh, may as well throw myself under the bus as 'nuff as it is. I'm on the down low, happy? My trainer moved me here so I wouldn't hafta' work for the Don anymore 'cuz of my parents gamblin'." 

" Wait did you say The Don-" Hajime was interrupted by a slender finger being held up. 

" I admit I ain't done anythin' kind in the past, thought of this bein' some redemption I figure. Start off clean. There's a reason I'm a janitor... Now I could easily dispose of you rid of any evidence you were even here but... The girly lookin' kids pretty headstrong and brave, I'll give 'em that much. Now that that's out, go ahead 'n give ya' chief the evidence. If ya' got a tape recorder, go on ahead. If this is all about bringin' Shingetsu, fine. But if this is all a ruse to incarcerate that kid, I'll know and I will use my right to remain silent. If ya'll want more info, go talk with Singetsu. Review the kid's crime scene that shattered 'em. 'Cuz I can tell ya'... That whole HP-SL incident... That was someone's doin'... There, the truth has been givin', and I still stand with my testament." 

Shuichi was thankful that he wouldn’t do anything to the two of them, now learning of his questionable past... but he seemed trustworthy at the moment. Of course, if the suspect he was thinking of was actually the perp... He didn’t think he would completely incarcerate him. So the older man didn’t have to worry about it. He nodded, happy to have gotten a lot of useful information to try and help him solve the mystery behind the experimentation. Shuichi gave Eddy a soft and small smile, nodding. “ Thanks for telling the truth, it’s a really big help. And don’t worry... we’re trying to get everyone who needs to be tried and arrested... and to help the potential victims get justice as well.” 

The foreign man only shook his head, " Tch right... I know how fickle the law can be. Extortion, money, blackmail, trigger happy or just full of idiots. Just lettin' ya'll know. Never met a single cop with no weakness for the corrupt." His glum eyes scanned the two of them, having a bitter taste in his mouth after speaking with them. Shuichi was brave yes, and Hajime was good at opening things up, but Eddy gave off the vibe of, 'I'm not trusting you' anyways. " Now... If ya'll don't have any more asinine questions, ya'll best take off 'n git." He said, sliding the tip of his hat over his eyes to cover up the sudden glare. 

Shuichi had nodded softly when Eddy had stated his opinions about the police force, knowing that it was probably impossible to get the man to change his mind. So, he simply took the advice that he was given and started to leave the room with Hajime. “ Thanks again...” Shuichi spoke softly before exiting the room, taking a deep breath as the tense atmosphere dissipated once they had gotten into the hallway. 

Hajime gave out an equally deep sigh of relief, " Good god... That was a bit more intense than I thought it'd be..." He began to frown, worry starting to curl in his belly, " If it is Kokichi, why would that guy go out of your way to cover for him? Why try and keep him 'protected'? Does he have dirt on the guy? Did the director really commit his child to testing like that? ... If Eddy's killed people, should we inform Haiji? And to go along with that, should we also tell him that you're trying to befriend Kokici so you can take him and D.I.C.E. down? All of this... Doesn't feel right... I can't imagine Kokchi being broken or violent... Shit... I-Is this right? Is this justice?" Hajime was taking this in a hard way, wanting the truth, but at the same time it felt sickening. 

Shuichi looked over towards Hajime as he vented about all of his concerns surrounding this case. Shuichi had almost all of the same worries that the superior detective did about all of this, anxiety pooling in his stomach. He then spoke softly, trying to reassure the both of them that the whole outcome of this will be alright. “ Well... finding the truth is important. Even if we may not like it, it is what it is... and when we figure out the truth, we’ll figure out what to do with it and make sure real justice is kept through the outcome of learning the entire truth...” he then took a deep breath before continuing to speak. “ Anyway, I don’t think we should tell Haiji about Eddy. And I don’t think it’s that important to tell Haiji I’m trying to befriend Kokichi to take the gang down... part of that isn’t true anymore, I don’t think.” 

The superior nodded, agreeing with the other, though slightly on edge with the whole avoiding Haiji with any information that they had just gained, fearing the repercussions and consequences that may carry out if they were uncovered. He gave a small sigh, walking down the hallway with his partner, " Well... I doubt we'd be able to talk to Tengan, and probably shouldn't. But I would like to see the old crime scene even if it's been 'solved'..." 

Shuichi walked with Hajime, nodding at his opinion on what actions they should take moving forwards. “ Yeah. It would be best to see it to get a better understand of what may have been truly going on at the time...” He then looked over towards Hajime. “ Should we go up to the front desk again and ask for the room number or should we try to find it on the map?” 

" If the staff is anything like that guy, I'd rather just look for it by ourselves. That guy set me in the mood of not wanting to talk to anyone here... Hate being in this mood." He rubbed the back of his neck, scratching some of his brown hair as he examined the interior of the area and map, following around what he thought was the right way...

Until he got lost. Hajime groaned, " Dammit... I hate asking for directions, reminds me of a dream where I was on an island resort, god it was hard to navigate." Eventually they found a nurse, and after asking them and showing a badge the worker pointed them in the correct direction, seeing as no one was using the room. Down some darker hallways that hadn't been touched in a while let them both experience the higher security rooms. Thankfully none of them were in use... But that also proved to be a bad thing at the same time, having no one around but cameras and most lights turned dim to conserve energy. " ... Well... I'm going to be having nightmares tonight.." 

Shuichi smiled softly when Hajime joked about having nightmares tonight, being able to feel the soft chill in the air and understanding why. “ Yeah...” he spoke softly walked down the dimmed hallway while checking the room numbers that appeared to try and find the one that they were looking for. They kept walking until they found the room that they had been directed to. Shuichi looked at the door, taking a deep breath before grabbing the handle and pushing the door open while mumbling a soft, “ Pardon the intrusion...”. Even if no one was there, it was nice to be polite. 

The older of the two flipped the light switch on the outside of the room, making sure patients didn't mess with the lights or break them. " What are you apologizing to? A ghost?" Hajime asked , jokingly as the other had with him before getting back into his serious attitude as his eyes scanned over the room. The room was a decent size to live in, an open doorway lead to a small bathroom containing a shower, toilet, and a sink that wasn't terribly hollow, keeping whoever was in here from trying to try drown themselves. There were no mirrors, more than likely taking away a possible weapon. The rest of the room was lined with pure cushioned walls and flooring that were splattered with all sorts of colors. Lighting shined brightly down upon the two, perched in the tall ceiling above. A small draft came out from behind one of the walls, somehow making the room cold. In the top upper corner was a camera spying below along with a large window that's shutter was closed just underneath. Hajime walked out the room and was able to open the blinds up from the outside. The large window had been clawed at, and the staff had tried buffing it the best they could. A single slot was placed in the middle to give out food. Shuichi inspected all aspects of the room, pulling out his smartphone and taking pictures here and there to try and keep potentially important pieces of this puzzle. He looked at the clawed up windows, a pit of despair settling in his stomach just from the sight of it. Just thinking of how desperate someone would have to be to do that... it made him sick. The atmosphere of the room was so despair inducing, seeing everything, or the lack of anything. He sighed, putting his phone back into his pocket and stepping out into the dim hallway while taking a deep breath to clear the pit of anxiety and sickness he felt in his chest and at the bottom of his stomach. 

Hajime saw his partner's face frowning weary and took it upon himself to help him out somehow, even if only just a bit, " H-Hey, it's okay man. I'm sure they use to have pillows and blankets... Maybe a few toys or something, but I mean this room isn't being used, so why leave that stuff here right?" He reassured the younger detective as he went over to him and patted his clothed shoulder, his mind also finding conflict with the room. " I think we should call it here for today. It's been rather... taxing." Hajime hated to admit it, but he didn't have a lick of what to do next, especially with D.I.C.E taking a period of time off from showing themselves. So he led the navy haired detective out, looking back the building and gaining a sliver of regret and fear. " Let's get out of here." Shuichi looked over at Hajime, slightly comforted by his positive words about the situation. 

He then nodded, following the superior detective out of the building and to the frigid cold air outside that made him feel tense and shiver, but not as much as the inside of that room did. He felt bad for whoever had to go through that...which at this point he was almost convinced was Kokichi, even if all the clues don’t match up. He’d have to ask the purple haired boy about that new name later... maybe after their date at the pizzeria? No-wait-not date. Shuichi mentally cursed himself for calling it a date when it wasn’t. Shuichi questioned why would he even say that. 

Hajime was kind enough to drive his new partner home, rifling through his hair with a stray hand, taking in everything that had happen today, recounting the events, shifting through the information, and mentally yelling at himself to stop being tired. " Alright, see ya' tomorrow, go rest your head. Hell, I even need to at this point." His hands gripped the wheel and drove off slowly, brain still digesting everything. Fortunately once Shuichi was inside he was greeted by his old childhood friends, Kaito getting up from drinking some hot cocoa with a fruity festival times shirt, all red and green, " Heya' Shuichi! What's up?! You-uhhh, you don't look so great..." His proud smile started to falter and slip away as he looked over the other male. 

Shuichi looked over at Kaito when he had walked into the house, not realizing his external appearance didn’t look really great...if he did know, he would try to act like everything was normal so he didn’t worry Kaito. But it was too late for that. The navy haired boy put on a small smile, “ Oh.. it’s just a case that turned kind of dark today. But it’s not like I’ve seen dark things... so I’ll be fine...!” He tried to reassure the trainee, sitting down next to him. 

The star lover gave a small smile, " Well if ya' say so, but if I keep seein' ya' like this, I'ma hafta' do somethin' drastic to help cheer ya' up! I gotta' watch over my sidekick dammit!" He slammed his knuckles into each other giving off his casual confident grin, " What kinda' friend would I be if I were to let ya' wallow!" After his small confidence booster he gave a large smile, " Anything ya' need to talk about, I'm ya' guy! Also, Kaede's makin' some grub, almost done as well." 

Shuichi had smiled at Kaito’s encouraging words and at the reassurance that he would always be there for the detective if he needed to just talk to someone or if he needed someone to cheer him up. It made his mood better just from how supportive the trainee was towards him. Shuichi gave him a smile, nodding softly at Kaito’s reassurances and at his comment about Kaede cooking up something. “Okay. And thanks, Kaito.” 

" No problem, it's what I'm here for! ... Okay well that and here to live, but ya' get what I mean." He said before plopping onto his favorite spot in the whole living room, his prized chair that was rather lumpy and tattered but still met for a good sit. This was an opportune time for the detective to try and pinpoint various findings in his mind as well as keep in touch with his dear friends and to get some food into his system. From that point on, for the next few days or so, everything was routine for the navy haired detective. He’d wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go visit the diner and have a tea or a juice of some sort, go to work with Hajime, return home, have dinner, spend time with his roommates that were around, then going to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eddy is an OC my friend made, thy allowed me to put him into the story. He and Kokichi connected from another AU the two of us made... Let's just say, they're not people anymore and Monokuma is a demon-MOVING ON!
> 
> **Eddy is The Ultimate Janitor, who was given to the mafia in America and was trained to become a hit-man to pay off his parent's gambling of owing the mafia a hefty amount of money. He's a great janitor, but is also described as 'The Janitor' in the underworld due effectively killing hits and knowing how to melt down and dispose of bodies with acid, cleaning up evidence.**


	18. Look There She Goes, That Girl Is So Peculiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The play~!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urgh posting this while listening to His Memory on music box was a horrible idea...  
> ARGH! Feed me comments or art to feel better plz TT~TT;

That was until Friday evening, the premiere of the play that Kaede had helped with. Shuichi was standing near the front door of the shared living space bundled up in his coat and with his shoes on, prepared to face the cold that awaited them outside. He was waiting for Maki and Kaito to finish getting ready and make their way to the door, Kaede already taking off earlier to help with last minute details and setting everything up. " Alright, we're here, not queer, but I could use a beer!" Kaito gave a bight smile, added with a wink and two thumbs up as he had another coat on for the cold. 

Maki simply rolled her eyes, her mouth hiding behind a red shaded scarf, " Would you calm down..." 

" I can't! I get to see one of my old friends in action, get to sit with another, and sit with the girl of my dreams!" Kaito mustered up. 

The petite girl's eyes slowly followed up to him with a muffled, " Do you want to die?" 

" As long as it's by you~." He grinned slyly making Maki scrunch up into her scarf, red being mixed with the red she wore. 

Shuichi watched the two, blinking slightly as he saw them interact in a much more intimate way than them just being friends. He then cleared his throat softly to try and alleviate his own awkwardness of the situation as he looked at the two before giving them a small smile. “ S... So, um, if you’re ready we should head out then...!” 

Maki grumbled from under her scarf, passing by Shuichi and outside into the icy frosted air, " Come along then you two, or you're walking." She gave a hidden smile under the cloth. 

" H-Hey, don't pull that on us! Shuichi just got here!" Kaito shouted out, running after the girl and into the equally crisped car along wit the other two.The purple star gazer put a hand to his mouth, whispering to his friend," She drove off one time, I thought she was kidding but she slowed the car just so I could keep up..." 

The red eyed girl have off some type of snort in amusement as she turned the key, " I let you back in after three minutes... Sides the kids seemed to like it." 

" That's 'cuz they saw me hootin' and hollerin', laughing their asses off!" 

Shuichi had gotten into the car with his friends, chuckling softly as he tried to imagine what the scene depicted to him would look like. It really did sound pretty amusing, knowing that the kids who were laughing at Kaito when it had happened had a right to do so. Shuichi spoke while getting warm in his coat, sitting in the car that had just been turned on. "I have to admit...it does sound kind of amusing to me. I could understand why the kids would seem to like it so much..." The taller male folded his arms and scrunched up muttering, rather embarrassed as he recalled that day, this in turn making Shuichi's soft chuckles get to Maki, having herself do the same as she drove off down the white sleeted streets. 

Finally they arrived to the theater, the interior lobby being rather large with several posters and run times plastered onto some screens. The odd thing about the place was that half of it seemed to be preforming plays while the other half showed movie, putting theater into both terms. Several people Shuichi had come to know were in the warm and cozy lobby of the relatively large theater. It must have been on of the tour spots like the museum. Hajime and Chiaki had walked in with Shuichi, both holding the other's hands-or well, mittens fairly closely. In the distance was Ishimaru with Mondo, who had the gentle mannered computer boy on his shoulders like a small child at the zoo or park. Kaito grinned as he looked around, " So you two excited?" 

" Quite." She complied, still in her silent manner. 

" Oh pttth! Ya' know you're excited Maki-Roll! Don't need to hide it!" Kaito said before swinging an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer, and making her shrink into the crimson scarf more. At his point Shuichi could distinctly tell she was doing her little pouting puffy face as her hands intertwined with her dark hair. 

She gave the over zealous male a glare, " Do you want to d-AIIE!" She shouted out as Kaito picked her up much like he had just done to his friend. As Maki flailed like a cat dumped into water and Kaito cackling like a hyena, it was warm moment between the friends. 

However... Then came in Towa Haiji in his bulky coat in sling. He glanced over and suddenly caught Shuichi in his piercing gaze. He walked over and gave a small smile unlike how the two first met, " Oh, hey. Guess about most of the prescient is here. Good to know. You doing okay Saihara?" 

Shuichi’s smile over the heartwarming moment between his friends slowly dissipated as he turned and saw Haiji Towa standing right in front of him. Sure, Shuichi expected a lot of people from town to be here, but he completely forgot about his boss... The navy haired boy have a small and nervous smile towards the superior, nodding softly at his comment “ I-I’m doing good, sir. And yes, there does seem to be a lot of officers here. There seems to be a lot of people here in general though... I can recognize a lot of people at least...” 

The older male huffed, his eyes roaming around, " Yeah, lot of people... Chiaki's been trying to notify the Togami Corp., so... yeah, I'm not in the best mood considering it'll take forever to even see if anyone has tried to offer the idea of the bomb to his cooperation...." He shook his head along with his scruffy hair. " Oh... Great, speak of the fucking devil." He groaned as Byakuya made way in a sleek black coat... Thankfully he looked to be apprehended by someone following him, which made him less intimidating as a shy purple haired girl kept pestering him. This scene made Haiji crack a grin and stiffen up some laughter as the entrepreneur tried to shoo the girl away. " Might as well go help a civilian." He sighed out, making way to them. As that scene was unfolding, another one was happening. 

Shuichi had chuckled when Byakuya was stopped and when Haiji had left to volunteer to help the poor guy out. He was smiling as his superior walked away towards the two of them off in the distance. He went to turn around but then felt something bump into his frame, turning his head and his body to try and figure out the source of the sudden bump to his, as the kids called it, feminine hips. Unknown to him, the small feisty girl had nearly fallen back from the bump, " Owww! Jeez, you lousy cops are everywhere! You better not mess up Miss Junko's big play with all your sirens." Snickered the unmistakable little brat, Saionji, dressed up as a teacup, or at the very least a human version of one. " This play is going to be amazing! Ooh I can't wait for the finale! We get to line up and bow and-" She gasped out, " Miss Mahiru is here! I got to go, bye loser!" She rushed off to a woman with a camera. Shuichi had blinked when the small and feisty girl had bumped into him and was a little taken aback by her hostile words. 

Then came another voice, one that was deeper, though Shuichi had heard in them before, " Jeez, she sure is excited. Sorry pal, she's always in her own little world." Talking to him now, was Ryoma, wearing a costume to play the bumbling sidekick of Gaston. " Kaede, is this the guy you were looking for?" He asked, trailing tired eyes across to Shuichi's friend in a gallant dress. 

He then turned towards Ryoma, glad to find another sensible person he could actually talk to. He nodded from the apology given , then looked at who the smaller male was talking to. Kaede had looked at Shuichi and smiled happily, going up to him and giving him a big hug, " Yup! It is!" She smiled and looked at the navy haired detective " I knew you were coming, but it's still making me happy that you're here!" 

Shuichi gave a soft and embarrassed smile, looking at the blonde pianist " Y-Yeah! I'm glad I could be here too!" 

The short male dare not speak as the two friends warmed each other's greetings until both were down. " Didn't know you knew Kaede. Friend of Kaede's is a friend of mine. I pop in whenever she needs someone to fill in a spot at the plays. Anyways, hope you have a good time watching then Shuichi. If you ever need help, you'll know where to find me." He calmly walked off, amazingly avoiding anyone, like he had his own little bubble equipped, blocking anyone from touching him. The chattering of the lobby hushed down as a woman on the speakers let them know that the play was starting, letting people get their seats. Shuichi had made his way to the seat that was on his ticket after being told that the play would start soon, cautiously making his way through the large crowd of people to find his seat. Once he had made it to his seat, he had sat down and tried to make himself comfortable for the play that was about to start and reading the program he had received when he walked into the building. 

As the detective headed to the actual room, he could see top to bottom, row to row, that most of the chairs had been taken up, tonight was a full crowd. Even the upper balcony had been filled with people from all over town, nearby, and anyone visiting. The stage was large, it's contents hidden by a silk red curtain, awaiting to be pulled back to let the actors shine in the lights above. Shuichi found his seat was around the people he had come to know, most likely due to Kaede getting her friends tickets, as well as Hajime who had gotten him and Chiaki some up frontiers for a good view. Behind Hajime and the sleepy girl sat Kaito with Maki, and the trio that was led by Mondo. His seat was located... Right next to the baby faced Yakuza who ideally waited for the show to begin. Despite the quiet chatter that filled the room, everyone could hear hurried footsteps run across the stage. Once in every few seconds, they'd also hear loud thuds and some people claim that they were alright. 

Suddenly, A woman's voice booms over the speakers set up. " Ladies and gentleman of all ages, We are very thankful that you have came to see this performance of beauty and the beast! The cast was really happy to hear that the rooms were packed, so, without further ado, please keep you're phones shut off and on silence during the performance, recording the play is fine just as long as the others viewers can see, and enjoy! Thank you for your time. Yahoooo~!" Once the announcements were over, gentle piano music begins to play as the stage light switches on and the curtains rise. Shuichi had taken the advice of the woman over the speaker, making sure his cellphone would be quiet for the play before the light and airy piano music began to rise, the lights switched on, and the red silky curtain began to rise as a sign the show was really beginning. Shuichi had gotten comfortable in his seat, listening and looking at his surroundings as he had gotten himself prepared to watch the play. 

The show had gone on with colorful costumes, wondrous acting, and beautiful music orchestrated during the whole thing. The Play was just about over as the large man known as Daiya was turned back into a prince, ridding of makeup and several costume pieces like a molting butterfly. As the end was drawing near, he acted out of character with a simple, " Huh?" As he looked down to the floor then hastily snatched up the actress of Belle, pulling her away from where they were. Shuichi was able to see a small ball had rolled over to their feet and within an instant, the ball burst into a thick sheet of pink smoke with sweet smelling aroma devouring the air. People in the audience gasped out, some coughing while the lights overhead the play were moved to the stage's center. In mid air, a long rope dangled down with a costumed man skillfully hanging onto it, waving out to the panicked crowd. Then came sliding down the thief with the sly grinning fox mask. " Heeeeello ladies and gentlemen~! Boils and ghouls of all ages and classes~! We are tonight's new entertainment~!" 

Shuichi coughed slightly as the smoke filled the air, trying to waft the smoke out of his face so he could clearly see the commotion that was happening on stage. He widened his eyes when he saw the thief with the familiar fox mask take center stage amiss all of the chaos that had just started. The navy haired detective knew he should have seen something like this coming, scolding himself. A big group like this filled with police force and other various groups in the town? This would be a perfect spot to taunt, especially crashing the play like this. For a instant, he thought to Kokichi saying that he was busy tonight, the night of the play, and he started to make connections but snapped himself out of thought before he went to far. He was technically apart of the police force, he needed to do something about this before things got too out of hand. Shuichi stood up from his seat and quickly ducked behind the row of seats, manuvering his way along to the end of the row near Chiaki and Hajime. 

The fox watched the audience," Cat! Bomb now!" He called out, allowing a slim figured person to toss something, making cameras and recordings shift about along with the lights. Haiji got up from his seat, along with several other people, which in turn made the fox laugh out on mic, waving a finger, " Ah, ah, ah... If you take two steps, you'll set the bombs off~! Then each and everyone of you will POP! Upupupu!" Kaito who had gotten up clinched his seat's arms and reluctantly sat back down along with other people. Soft beeping could be heard from under every damn chair in the crowd, making people more paranoid and flustered. " If you just let us do our job, then everyone will be safe. But one wrong moooove and-BOOM, ALL YOUR HEADS WILL POP FROM YOUR BODIES LIKE FIREWORKS! No guns too!" Fuyuhiko who had acquired one gritted his teeth, putting it back into a secret pocket of his coat. The rope lowered so the fox man could skip off it and walk over to Daiya and the lead actress, one Sonia Nevermind. " I'll be taking the tiara~! Thank you~." 

Daiya got up and growled, " Like hell I'm going to let you torment these people!" 

" Ohhh nnnno~! Mister helmet hair is being aggressive! What could I ever do against a greaser?!" They whistled out, allowing three men jump Daiya to the stage's floor. 

Chiaki who had been sitting nearby Shuichi slowly propped herself onto her chair to look under it and take out a pair of goggles from her backpack. Shuichi’s mind was going a mile a minute as the thieves in the stage were after the tiara and how they had racked Daiya to the floor, as well as the bomb threat. Sure, the threat could be more than real, but the detective really doubted that the gang would really place bombs in the theater... they just didn’t have a motive for it. Sure, there may be devices there making noise, but he really doubted that there would be actual dangerous explosives in he building... he looked over to Chiaki who had pulled the goggles out of her bag, interested in what she was planning to do with with them. 

Sonia frowned, taking the tiara off her head and holding it protectively close to her chest. " I may be playing Belle, but I'm not gonna give up this so easily." With that said, she began to slowly back away, her blue eyes careful and alert. 

The fox groaned, " Oh for the love of... Gorilla! Hey Tarzan get over here and secure her!" They called out for a massive man to come over to help. Under the mask, Kokichi it his lip. He really didn't want to fight, he didn't want anyone to get hurt, he couldn't let it happen. He was actually scared but he mustered up his act. As Sonia thrashed around as someone large had apprehended her, she still didn't give up so easily. The actress stomped on her aggressor's foot, which had easily set her free. 

With Chiaki she came back up holding her own seat's bomb... Bomb as in a pager tapped to a card that read out, ' Fooled ya!' with a giggling white and black bear on it. " They're fake..." 

" Wh-What?!" Hajime looked over then looked under his chair as well. " What the fuck?" 

The split second after his suspicions were confirmed that there wasn’t actually any explosives at all, the navy haired detective started to weave through the crowd in the audience and run up towards the stage. He had jumped up onto the stage, quickly grabbing the actress’s hand and pulling her away from the large man who had apprehended her and taking the tiara away from her so she wouldn’t be targeted by the group anymore. “ I’m sorry for pulling you, but we have to run ma’am!” Shuichi spoke quickly, starting to run away with the actress’s hand in one of his hands and the precious tiara in another. 

Sonia nodded and picked up her pace, outrunning Shuichi and eventually she was the one dragging him. The fox backed up in statement, " Ah! Gorilla! Are you okay big guy?!" He had put a foot in his mouth as he heard the detective's voice. All of this made the crowd stir and soon they'd bring up courage. Hajime and Chiaki had already left the chairs. He silently cursed and called out to another masked individual, " Don't let them get up! Set the 'chairs'!" Someone with a lion mask ran to a lamb and instructed a button they held, pressing it. One of the chairs that wasn't used and was a bit away from people in the upper audience was engulfed in flames, making everyone sit back down in fear. That was when another two chairs in the same predicament were blasted. " Those chairs those guys got up from were faulty! Don't think the others aren't!" They shouted angrily before running off after the two. 

The lion masked man sighed and got hold of Chiaki who was about to bolt. The Lion yelled out, struggling against the girl, bringing her up onto stage to be tied like Daiya, " Yo, Lamb and Owl, get that other fucker!" 

The two masked accomplices nodded when given orders by the one in the lion mask, one of them grabbing onto Hajime's right arm and the other one grabbing onto his left arm, restraining the detective before he had the chance to run away or to help Chiaki in anyway. Hajime thrashed around wildly, " Ge-Get off! Fuck you guys!" He struggled even more before he was fully restrained by the two and brought up onto stage to be tied with the others with the large man apologizing over and over. 

" It's okay...." Chiaki murmured, feeling a bit guilty. But as soon as the masked individuals saw a display of lights, they were given the signal, quickly leaving.. 

Shuichi didn't expect the actress to be so fast as she ran, eventually tripping over himself to try and catch up to her as she ran. He really had to work on his athletic skills...but for now, he had to get them as far away as they could so he could plan out the next step. In the midst of the chaos, Shuichi had managed to open the exit, he and Sonia quickly making their leave by running down the lobby. In the lobby, the two had tripped over something or rather someone. Saionji groaned from under them and sniffled out into tears, " I-I saw what happened! I-I ran and-I'm so happy you're here!" She bawled out. As they steadied each other to get up, the fox masked man leapt out from one of the doors and swiped the tiara from the blonde's head, rushing out the front doors. As Sonia helped the shorter female up, The detective would notice the masked individual rush out the doors. 

The actress patted Saionji's back softly, a determined look spreads across her face. " I'm terribly sorry, But we have to go!" With that said, she ran off after the culprit, this time being the one dragging Shuichi along outside. 

" Wa-wait what-no! I'm scared!" Saionji shrieked out but was too late for her to be heard as the doors tore open from Sonia. " .... Fuck. Dammit Kokichi, you better be okay." She pouted before getting up and making way to the back of the stage to signal the rest to get out of dodge. 

Shuichi had noticed the culprit running outside, about to follow them until Sonia had suddenly started to pull him with her as she ran outside. He let out a soft yelp while being pulled, but regained his composure and tried to run as fast as he could along with the blonde to try and catch the thief who had stolen the tiara. Eventually, he had been able to keep up pace with the actress, the frigid cold not bothering him in the slightest at the moment because he was dead set on catching the thief. 

The fox ran quickly through the streets, eventually jumping onto a pipe and shimming up it until he got onto a rooftop. They stopped to catch their breath and to keep look out for the detective, only to see Sonia follow suit, " Bitch..." They snarled to a crouched position to pull out a screwdriver, starting to unscrew the top screws of the pipe. 

Sonia had easily caught up to Shuichi once more, pointing up toward the direction the fox had went up. " There!" She called out. The actress reaches the pipe, Shuichi following behind. The blond huffed, seeing that the dress she was wearing was too puffy to climb in. She then glanced back at Shuichi, who was silently puffing and panting. Sonia then got and idea after seeing a pile of boxes that were oh so conveniently laying in the corner. Sonia began to stack boxes on top of each other until she couldn't anymore. " Detective, I'm gonna lift you up, alright?" 

Shuichi had watched Sonia quickly stacking the boxes, noting that she really had quick thinking and decision making skills... which he was thankful for. He was so close to the thief, it would be a real let down if he didn't at least get close enough to try and stop the tiara from being stolen. He looked over at the actress, nodding firmly before getting in front of the stack of boxes, panting quietly as his breath fogged up the air in front of him. " Okay, sounds like a plan." He spoke in agreement. She simply lifted him up with ease, tossing him on top of the pile of boxes. Now all he needed to do was reach for the roof by climbing. The masked Kokichi watched in disbelief as he caught his breath and tampered with the pipe long enough. They could deal with the new detective, however the damsel in not so much distress... He couldn't handle her one bit. He had his limits, and when someone who was much stronger than him, scared him immensely, though he wouldn't tell anyone that. 

Once Shuichi crawled himself onto the roof top, the fox extended an arm to put up a finger as a pause, letting the both of them to catch on their breaths. However it didn't last too long until the leader started to book it down the rooftop, hopping to other rooftops. Thankfully for Shuichi, the buildings were extremely close to one another. Shuichi was in disbelief when the thief has held up a finger to let the both of them catch their breaths, finding it somewhat hard to believe that a criminal would just put a chase on pause. However, when the culprit started to hop from rooftop to rooftop, Shuichi had immediately darted after them. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, panting heavily as he ran as fast as his legs would let him in the freezing cold weather. The detective was thankful the buildings were close to one another, or else he probably wouldn't have the courage he needed to jump across them to remain in pursuit. Shuichi knew that if they kept running and chasing like this, he would never win... he simply didn't have enough stamina for this. So, he decided to use the group's own motives and morals against them. He...he just hoped this worked. Shuichi went to jump across another rooftop, but purposefully fell short. He was about to fall off the building and into an alleyway, but had managed to grip the edge of the building to stop himself. However, the outside conditions made it so that Shuichi's grip was slipping, and fast. Okay maybe this was a bad idea... Yeah there was a small set of stairs under him but still... 

The thief did stop themselves, hearing the other slip up and paused, going over things in their head. They actually started to go to the slipping detective, but stopped and backed away like a scared animal. Apparently neither of them had even thought the gentle and happy princess would have caught up to them by nor at all. Sonia had unfortunately been behind Shuichi, hopping over to the rooftop the fox had staggered on and quickly pulled up the detective with relative ease. Of course... She hadn't known the poor navy aired male had some type of idea.The masked stranger looked back to watch them both and whined out internally. They started to walk backwards, knowing they had a few feet until the next ledge but something made them halt their actions. Maybe it was Sonia catching up, sending them into panic, a cruel new idea, or some type of discovery to exploit. Shuichi was shocked that Sonia had managed to catch up, but most of all he was disappointed. Sure, the girl probably didn't know he had a plan, but still... by the way the masked thief was walking towards him before she had come to save him, his plan probably would have worked. But, Shuichi didn't dwell on the failed plan for long, now being forced to come up with a new one. But, he looked at the masked thief who was walking backwards and immediately thought of why they would be doing that. Once Shuichi was back on his feet, he started to make his way forwards towards the thief with hesitancy in his step, holding an arm out to the side to indicate to Sonia to back off a little while he was trying to figure out what the thief could be plotting. 

Sonia stayed back, but readied a stance just in case. However, Shuichi had just fallen into the thief's trap, and he did just that... Or rather a reason why the thief had stopped in the first place. A distinct crack made it's presence, making Shuichi come to a halt himself. It was only then that the ground below them that had been covered with snow, was actually glass. The glass broke from under the two, sending them to fall down into a clothing store, landing on cardboard boxes filled with clothes, but also the things that held them up in formation. Sonia gasped and looked down at the two, " Oh goodness! D-Don't worry I'll be right there!" She called out before vanishing to find a safer way in so that she could help the detective. 

The wily thief groaned and panted harshly from the sudden fall and impact. His eyes caught the tiara, safely dropped onto a pile of folded pants. He stood up to retrieve it only to topple over from a pain shooting up his leg, " Gah!" he hissed in pain to look over, finding a hanger had caught the mildly healed up wound from the previous days. He grabbed it and yanked it out, yelping in the process before taking out a cleaner and spraying the hanger along with the floor and wiping it up. Then quickly wrapping the reopened wound with a bandage. Before long he got out a pocket knife, cutting any clothes that had his blood on it and stuffing it into one of the belt's many pockets. He was... surprisingly quick and methodical. 

The fall had certainly disoriented Shuichi, rubbing his arm that had taken most of the impact from the fall as well as the hand that had been bandaged previously. He looked over to see the thief try and reached for the tiara. Then watched them quickly retract to mend their open wound. Shuichi had gotten up from the fall, a little wobbly, his hand and arm ached slightly, but it seemed like nothing compared to what the injured thief was going through. To ensure the thief would at least stay for a while longer before fleeing, Shuichi had swiftly grabbed the tiara from the pile of jeans while the thief was preoccupied with cleaning up any evidence that could be left behind. Shuichi's vision began to get blurry on his right side, noticing that there was blood leaking over to his eye. He couldn't see the injury, but he only could assume it was from a piece of glass that they had fallen with lodged into his forehead or head somewhere. He really hoped it wasn't too deep... Shuichi firmly held onto the tiara with his good hand, panting softly before asking the masked thief, " Are...Are you okay?" 

The thief looked over and actually stood up, quickly snagging the small piece of glass from the other's head that had been poking out from above his right eye. It stung for a moment and only stung worse as the other took a spray out, sanitizing the wound and somehow patching him up before finally giving up in pain, falling back on some clothes. " Y-You're lucky t-that one, o-only pierced the sk-skin. I've had that before-and count yourself lucky y-yet again that I'm nifty at patching u-up-shhhhhhh-arg shit!" The fox masked individual winced, slamming a fist onto the wooden floor from all the adrenaline, worry for Shuichi's safety, and pain. They snarled out and put their gloved hand out, " Don't ask about me, j-just give me t-the tiara..." 

Shuichi had flinched when the piece of glass had been pulled out and the injury had been sanitized as well as now sporting a band-aid. But now worrying more about the state that the thief had seemed to be in at the moment. He looked at them, panting and speaking firmly, " I... I'm not going to give you the tiara. Even if I did give you it, you wouldn't be able to run away... in time before the actress comes to help me and to catch you...." He sighed, slowly standing up and taking a deep and shaky breath and walking over to the thief. He extended a hand towards him, " I... I don't appreciate you trying to steal the tiara. And I certainly don't like that you threatened a whole audience of people, even if the bombs were fake... but right now, I can't... can't afford to have you be caught and turned in right now. Not... not when there's so much more I need to piece together about you..." He paused, taking a big leap and making his statement backed by several other clues. " I'm almost positive you're Kokichi Ouma under that mask... but until I figure out why you're under there, I can't let you be caught. Because... then I'll never know." 

The criminal stayed silent for a while, trying to piece together words, expressions, something. " I'm not... 'Him'. I am the leader of D.I.C.E.!" The mask's eye glowed the burning red glare, as if activating whenever it's user wanted it to. " There's no need to know anything about me, I'm the bad guy upupup! That's what I was meant to be! But sometimes to do some good, you have to be the bad guy~!" They started to cackle out like a madman, no tears this time, just honest to God, a broken person lingering on the borders of insanity. " And not capturing me-pthhh-upupupu! Right, like I'd fall for that shit! The only people I give a damn about are those kids and my minions. Besides them, no one gives a damn about me! H-hehe, why would they?" Seeing Shuichi's exposed hand made them only take out their blade, " Go on, try and reach me..." Shuichi had listened to the ramblings of the criminal, but didn't seem phased by anything that they had said. The detective knew they had already been through something like this a few times before, where he would reach out and the criminal would lash back, then Shuichi would back down. But, this time around, Shuichi was more confident. He was more brave, because he had encountered this same person multiple times before and knew that if he didn't put his whole heart into literally and figuratively reaching out for them, then nothing would ever change. So, Shuichi did as he was told to despite the threat of a blade in front of him. Shuichi took a step forward, reaching out to grab to thief's fist that was holding the blade, a soft expression on his face. 

The downed thief hesitated momentarily, unsure of what to really do or how to handle this. But instinct was the first to react, pushing a button first in their mind, this in turn making the thief actually wield the knife out, slicing the tip of the detective's finger. Just one quick swipe, enough to leave a paper-cut and the knife was placed back into it's container on the belt. " You should really think on who you trust..." They huffed out under the mask, eye still gleaming at him. The thief didn't move and just waited for a reaction or anything to happen. Would the detective be angry, try to reach out again, or just be disappointed? They had to know. 

Shuichi had flinched slightly when the blade had given him a slight cut, listening to the words of warning that was given to him by the thief. He didn’t need to put much thought into the words though, instantly reaching out for the thief’s hand again. “ I have really thought about who I can trust. And I know you wouldn’t do anything to kill me or seriously injure me. So, I decided that I most likely have nothing to worry about.” 

The scowling fiery red tint of the eye soon faded away and the stranger gave a small sigh, " I don't get it... I've made you run all over the place like them, made threats, stolen things, hurt you, and-and you still think there's something more... You even trust a criminal not to maim you-I don't get it-Why are you so different-Why do you care-Why are you being... s-so nice to me?" The breakdown was small compared to the one from the store when the two were locked in, but it was still fairly evident that the thief was going through some serious mentality struggle. The gloved hand finally surrendered and took hold of the others hand, too preoccupied with being wrapped up in questions. 

The detective firmly gripped onto the thief’s gloved hand, a soft smile on his face as he replied to the break down of the masked thief. “ Well...” He trailed off, trying to find a valid response to give them. He then gave the thief a brighter smile while speaking, “ Albert Einstein said that ‘The person who follows the crowd will go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before’.” He then started to carefully help the thief off the floor, supporting them and helping them stand up and off their leg injury as much as he could. “ Now come on, we have to get out of here before the actress finds us.” 

While the entire conversation was reverberating against the inner walls of thief's mind, some glass splintered down nearby from up above. That was when Shuichi saw a rather large number of people with fashioned masks of various animals, half black and white with the hellish glowing crimson eye. A rope was thrown down, allowing a member with a rat-or was it a weasel? Possum? mask to slide down. Their voice came out low and harsh from the modifications in the mask's inner mic as they put a hand out, " You, Detective... Give us our leader. Now." They growled out, not caring for the thing they were all obsessed on robbing. 

Well that was until the actress finally made it, running over, " Okay Detective I'm he-..." She soon quieted down as all the other members eyes shined onto her from above. She knew she could fend off one or two, but not with the number that they formed currently. But she was still a brave one at that and stood straight giving them all a glare. 

The lanky rat let out an annoyed sound, " This doesn't concern you, we just want our leader back." The actress' face soon shifted to confusion as she glanced to Shuichi, seeing him with the tiara and culprit in hand. The so called leader looked miserable-well, body movement wise. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes from all of what was going on, and all of the choices he would have to make and what the possible outcomes of them would be. If he handed the leader over, it would be the best outcome... the actress would stay safe, the leader of the gang would get to somewhere safe away from there... but how would he explain the leader of D.I.C.E getting away again to Haiji...? No, that didn’t matter right now. Shuichi had nodded in compliance to the rat-masked thief, slowly helping the leader over towards them. He mumbled softly to the rat masked thief, so Sonia couldn’t hear. So she wouldn’t get suspicious of him and tell Haiji about it. “ The injury on his leg had reopened from the fall... and he’s winded from running away.” He spoke, a look of concern on his face as he handed the leader over, but still holding onto the tiara firmly. 

The rat gave off a signal, letting the large and bulky gorilla masked person to easily hop down and pick up their small leader who was still in a mild daze. Sonia gave out a soft sigh, walking over calmly even if the rat was on guard for the time being. She took the tiara from Shuichi and gave it to the masked thief, worry on her face, " Just go and take it. All of this wasn't worth having anyone get hurt over." She looked to Shuichi giving a small smile, " It'd be best if we were both at fault right?" The rat masked man stepped back, perturbed and baffled before grabbing onto the rope and being slid back up. The man with the ape mask only jumped out from the broken hole above, walking off with the leader. However a scarf swayed down and fell near the opening. A small shuffle footsteps were heard and the leader seemingly had pushed the over-sized man away and floundered back to retrieve the checkered scarf. What was even crazier though was that the fox masked thief had no distinct markings on their neck, not even make smudges at that. After that, they had all rushed off. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when Sonia had given the group the tiara, not expecting her to do something like that at all. She could get in really big trouble for that... but he was more baffled by the fact that there was no markings on the back of the Fox masked thief’s neck. Even though there were multiple ways they could cover up scars, it still threw the detective off a little... once the group was gone, he looked over to the platinum blonde actress, “ You didn’t have to give them the tiara...” He spoke, “ You might get in serious trouble...” 

" Honestly, it's not worth that much of a hassle, but if you want to think about things in a bad perspective, there were many of them. Sides, I've been in this town for quite a bit, I'm fairly sure, they will return it. They do that to anything of high worth. But if it's something not for the public, they'll pawn it off. If we managed to hold onto it, we'd be questioned on why we didn't have the culprit as well. Sure we could lie and have said we had, but that only makes them a bigger threat to the police, thinking the group would actually try to endanger us. I may not have the same customs as you, but I believe this may have been a decent course of action." She gave him a soft pat on the shoulder, leading him out and back to the theater. Shuichi had blinked softly from her explanation of her actions, thinking that her reasoning really did make sense... and it lines up with some of his own thinking and reasoning as well. He nodded after the actress had patted him on the shoulder, quickly following suit behind her to go back to the theater to check on the state of everything. 

Around twenty minutes later Haiji was inspecting the scene as he had sent another group of officers to secure and comb the clothing store. Hajime comforted Shuichi and Sonia. Daiya was incredibly worried that he came over along with several others, only to get pushed away by Haiji who was trying to find any trails left behind with Chiaki's help. Kaito ran over, getting past the police lines, not giving a shit and eventually arguing with the chief to see his friend until Shuichi and Sonia were both pulled away from the crossing line. " Lord! Ya' okay Shuichi?!" Maki peered over with a her emotionless stare... But it did contain a frown of worry. 

Shuichi had looked over at Kaito and Maki who had come to ask if he was okay, giving them both a soft and reassuring smile “ Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied. “ I didn’t really get injured all that much, just a cut on my head from some glass and a few bruises from falling through a glass ceiling here and there...” He then blinked, “ B-But don’t worry! I’m going to be totally fine!” 

" I'm glad ya' didn't get hurt to much. The thought of that..." He trailed off. 

Saionji walked over, sighing out and sat besides the actress, " That blew. Glad you're okay Miss Sonia. And uh, detective pansy. " Her gaze was caught by a glare of Maki which she went back on her word and gulped, " I-I mean... I'm glad you're okay too Mister Shuichi... Hey you two look sad. Was it cause the play got messed with? Or was it the tiara getting stolen?" 

As Kaito and Shuichi spoke in the back, Sonia took it upon herself to speak for the both of them, " It's pretty much both on our parts, but I think Shuichi is a little more upset." The blond lightly scratched her cheek, looking at the two females with her " He told me he really was hoping to see everyone enjoy themselves. Today wasn't the day, huh?" She then ended with a light giggle, more tired sounding than amused or humored. " But don't worry about us, what happened at the theater? Is everyone else alright?" 

Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, " Yeah everyone's okay. Haiji's super pissed, Junko's super pissed, Daiya's fairly upset. Good news is I guess the journalist will have somethin' to write about now. But no one got hurt, seems like the seats that blew up was laced with fireworks, and a fire didn't spread out. So that's good-" 

" You two, what happen with the tiara?" Haiji bluntly cut in, walking over to them. He had a small scowl on his face, mostly due to being fooled, not finding much to inspect, and not getting to apprehend any of the D.I.C.E members. " Please tell me you hurt the little shit who got away." 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when Haiji had suddenly cut those conversation short and butted in with his own question. He expected to have to deal with Haiji sooner or later, but Shuichi didn’t really expect it this soon. The detective took a second to compose himself and think of a valid answer, taking a deep breath before looking Haiji right in the eyes to make it appear like he was confident. “ The tiara was stolen by the members of D.I.C.E. I was about to apprehend the leader and restrain them but the other members of the gang showed up and greatly outnumbered us. For the sake of a civilian, I treated it like a hostage station and let the leader and the gang get away with the tiara... I apologize, sir.” 

Sonia nodded, as if to confirm what Shuichi said was true. " He's right chief, I was so busy helping him that I didn't notice the others had followed after. He and the leader fell through a window around the Mieng District, the building with the clothes. The leader hurt their leg a bit, but that's all." The store was quite old, but not to the point where no one shopped there anymore. It just meant security was a little lax there so there would be no issues with security cameras and their little 'most truths-little lies'. She gave a small wink to the detective when no one else was looking right at them. 

Haiji gritted his teeth and stamped a foot harshly onto the ground, " Dammit, so they did steal it! Hrmf... Least one got injured. They should count themselves lucky I wasn't there." He said before turning away. 

Kaito scoffed and helped Shuichi get up onto his feet, " C'mon, let's get back to the house and rest up. That way we can meet up with Kaede. Hope you have a a better night Sonia." 

Hajime nodded, deciding to leave as well. " See ya tomorrow Shuichi." 

Shuichi hadn’t liked Haiji’s reaction to hearing that the leader had gotten injured at all... it was like he wanted the leader to be in pain more than he wanted the leader to be in custody... Shuichi didn’t like that at all. But, when Haiji has stepped away from them he felt the air clear and his chest lift up slightly. He then looked over at Hajime and smiled at him slightly “ Yeah, see you tomorrow.” He then looked over to the trainee, nodding “ Okay, let’s go home then.” He spoke, a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why are you being so nice to me?https://66.media.tumblr.com/a21cdc482639a2995a4417f4334bd7c8/tumblr_nxikhb5PmO1tmpyq0o3_r1_1280.jpg
> 
> This is actually pretty relevant for this AU. Kokichi likes causing troubles, he can go off to an extent in power due to D.I.C.E., but there's still a part of his younger self deep inside.
> 
> Same Energy - https://pm1.narvii.com/7601/9352dc7d87dfe4982fcea0399ebcd507f9ed92bbr1-720-720v2_uhq.jpg  
> But also Same Energy - https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a3/bd/ab/a3bdabfd94c55e086df402c117919454.jpg
> 
> .... Ffffffff it's been years and this smoll oat child and little shit my me cry so much!


	19. Why Should I Worry, Why Should I Care?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile back at the legion of doom!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have Another Episode reference~!  
> And I'm sure if Rantaro wasn't 'Ultimate Survivor' he'd be 'Ultimate Explorer', you cannot tell me otherwise.  
> Also there is a reason why Hagekure has a Jamaican accent... Blame how he looks, can act, and his voice by NicoB, who gain is hilarious as he does Danganronpa.

Back at the 'Headquarters'-more like apartments but Saionji had insisted to call it otherwise, The D.I.C.E. members who were the first ones to arrive were scrambling all over the place, trying to find some medical supplies. The injury that their leader sustained wasn't really serious but their added worry to the adrenaline still left over from the heist was enough to give rise to their antics. Kokichi laid on one of the couch's with a worried 'mom' by his side. 

Rantaro had looked at Kokichi with a disapproving look on his face, his mask set off to the side. “ Do you always have to be so reckless?” He chided, “ You probably would have been caught with an injury preventing you from moving like this if we hadn’t showed up to save you from the detective. Do you understand?” He sighed softly, “ I swear... sometimes I wonder if you do this just to make me worry about you more than I should have to.” 

The purple gremlin looked away like a guilty dog or a misbehaved child, " I didn't think little miss Sunshine would be a bad-ass princess stereotype... Mrm, besides, I'm fine..." Kokichi pouted, pulling away his mask and mic. He sighed quietly, " I'm more worried about you guys. And if everyone is okay, then I'm worried about what I'll need to do in order to hurt myself so no one notices I got the same cut as the thief." He held up the tiara and examined it, frowning as he examined a gem encrusted in the center. " Heh, this reminds me of her. She always use to let me put on things like this and I played as a prince with my toys." He smiled, though it was out of memories that he constantly tried to bury. 

Leon peeked over, " Ah shit, he's got that creepy smile again. You got it, or want me to snap him out of it this time?" It was a rare occurrence, but it did tend to happen. Whenever the purple imp was reminded of his former life, before he had met any of his friends of what he called 'family', he'd smile sadly and break down. Or he normally did... But one thing stuck out more than his past for once. 

" He said he wouldn't arrest me..." 

Leon removed his lion fanged mask, " Huuuuh?!" 

Kokichi faltered with the treasure, " He knows it's me." 

Leon's bright blue piercing eyes widened, " Shit did your mask fall off too?! Did he snag it?!" 

" No... He just knows..." Kokichi mused out softly. 

Rantaro has widened his eyes when something had broken him out of his cycle of getting lost in old memories, even more so when it was something that had happened previously that night rather than one of them trying to pull him out of it. From the sounds of what happened, it must have really caught Kokichi off guard... Rantaro looked at Kokichi with a serious and protective look on his face before asking some questions related to what happened, “ A lot of detectives have ‘just known’ it was you, yet couldn’t prove anything. What makes him so different than the rest of the other detectives? Just because he doesn’t want to arrest you? Why does he even not want to arrest you in the first place?” 

Kokichi gritted his teeth at this point, moving back as much as he could to make himself even smaller, " Because he's... nice..." 

That was when the taller male in the rat mask walked over, pulling it off and tossing it aside. He whistled out and soon enough, four hamsters ran over and carried it away. The older male sat on the couch's arm and watched Kokichi like a hawk under his dark and scarred eye, " So was Haiji originally, but you've told quite the tale of how he soon became. The powers of hellish evil can take over many a person." 

Leon slowly squinted to the other, " Gundham... what the fuck you talking about?!" 

Instead Kokichi answered, " He wants to know the truth. The truth behind everything-Why make D.I.C.E., why steal, why keep lying, what's in the past, what's the connection-what-what's wrong with me?!" 

Gundham put a hand on his shaking shoulder, making the younger have more composer, " Calm yourself..." 

Rantaro listened as Kokichi went on his rambling about what the detective had wanted to know about him and about their little gang, not expecting that he would want to know all of that stuff... but it seemed like Kokichi was afraid for him to find out. The green haired boy leaned forward and placed a hand gently onto Kokichi’s hand. “ Take some deep breaths... you said he’s nice, right? So even if he did eventually know what happened to you in the past, it wouldn’t be all that bad. He wouldn’t be mean enough to share that sensitive information with anyone, right?” 

The little imp settled down, unsure of what exactly he was feeling. All he could compare it to was Haiji, but the detective again was different. More than likely because he WAS a detective. Detectives in general... He enjoyed messing with them, enjoyed belittling them, enjoyed crushing their hopes and means to catch him. But none of the former ever wanted to actually know him, only catch him. But then also came the matter of how Haiji was. He was kind too until several years where being locked away made Kokichi more of a freak instead of a kid he had helped in the past. Leon crouched down beside their small leader and snapping a finger several times, " OI!" 

Kokichi shuddered and visibly made himself back up in a small jump. He groaned and ran a hand over his face, shoving the tiara to Leon, " Urgh, just take it away! Also go get me a knife or something." 

" I'm not gonna' let you hurt yourself dude." 

" I don't care, I'm your leader! I need something so they won't suspect me! The newbie goes into the diner everyday with Hajime! He'll notice that my leg will be hurt in the exact same place. Maybe you could just punch more something." Kokishi huffed, crossing his arms, making the red head glare a bit. 

" I ain't gonna' punch you." The two were now in a stare down, neither budging. Why? Because when Kokichi set something in his mind, he wouldn't stop, and Leon was angered too easily. 

Rantaro had sighed when the two boys in front of him had started bickering. He really was going to break this up, wasn’t he? The green haired boy cleared his throat and spoke firmly, “ Hey, you two, stop.” He paused before continuing, “ Kokichi, you don’t have to try and hide it. You say he already knows it’s you right? So why go to that length to hide it more?” 

The purple haired boy gave a glare, " Because I don't want him to know, just like Gundham said, he could turn me in anyways, there's not many people I can just trust. I don't want you guys in any danger of getting locked up all because I got figured out-arrrgh! It's not a game if we both know the other. I can easily set him up, make sure nothing wrong happens, have fun. But if he knows me, then he can set up something instead-and if he does, that'll involve the cops-I... I don't know." Kokichi curled up like a small toddler, confused, knowing his lies weren't covering himself anymore with the detective, which was all he had left. 

Rantaro looked at the purple haired boy expressing his worry about the whole situation. He very well couldn’t just have him hurt himself over it though... so he’d have to come up with a way to calm him down and reason with him. “ Okay. You’re the leader here. You should trust your instinct, because ultimately it’s your group and your choice to make. If you think that he’ll set up a trap for you, then approach it with that mindset. If you trust his kindness that you’ve been telling me so much about, then try to trust him back but be wary. But, I won’t let you hurt yourself more over this. That’s the easy way out, basically admitting that you’re quitting. The leader I know doesn’t take the easy way out.” 

The childish boy tried to scrunch up as much as he could, but just couldn't get as small as he wanted. Leon and Gundham both peered over the small dictator who took inhaled a large amount of air through his nose. He then sprung up with a semi-sadistic smile wringing from ear to ear, " You know what, you're right~! I'm overthinking this waaaay too damn much." He put a finger to his temple, grinning deviously, " I'll find a way to see if he really is that trustworthy, nishishi~." 

Leon rolled his eyes and poked the purple haired boy's forehead, fully knowing his sudden change in tone, " Yooou need to chill out dude." 

" You try falling through a window and get pierced by a hanger." With this being said Leon grabbed hold of the little dictator like hat and pushed it over Kokichi's eyes. " ... You're just jealous I can pull this look off." The two began sticking tongues at each other, reverting to their normal ways and backing up from seriousness. 

That was when some of the crew aside from the ones who worked at the theater came in, this included Komaeda, Miu, Hagekure, and Yuta, " There you guys are! What took so long?!" 

Yuta gave a nervous chuckle, " Hiro ran into a tree on the way here since he was wearing the small sets of stilted shoes. Sides, we had to make sure there was a somewhat good finale for leaving-considering I had to run all the way to you to try and fool that detective guy." He said, pulling off a cheetah mask and tossing over an identical fox one. Or at the very least a wolf that could be mistaken easily for a fox. 

Komaeda put his hands together softly and happily, a small and adoring smile on his face as he spoke in his usual tone, " It was amazing to see how fast he could really run! My worthless self could never run that fast!" 

Almost immediately after the marshmallow haired had spoken, the avocado haired boy had went up and smacked him gently upside the head. " Stop talking about yourself like that, you know no one likes hearing that." 

The hope driven boy rubbed the back of his head from the impact, sighing softly, " Sometimes the truth hurts!" 

Miu pushed through the two boys and their pity party, going over to Kokichi with her arms crossed and her usual scowl on her face, " You just had to go and fuckin' worry us, huh?" She began clicking her tongue " And you got hurt again, god! Be more careful dammit, it's a pain in my ass to hear you whine about any boo-boo you get!" She expressed her worry over the boy, actually having good intent besides the last comment she had told the purple haired boy. It was just her weird way of telling him not to do it again, because it really worries her when he goes off and gets hurt like that. Though, she'd never fully admit that out loud. 

The stubborn little tyrant huffed, " I'm fine you dirty whore! I didn't know that bitch was gonna' be all Superwoman on my ass and it's not like I'd ask you to kiss it better or-Oh my gooood! Are you seriously going to start the floor sitting move again Komaeda?! Don't make me come down there and drag your ass up here mister!" Leon snickered lightly to himself. It was funny when Kokichi got riled up to help his friends-or well, what he had called family for a couple of years now. They all came to know he'd do just about anything to have them comfortable and safe. This often led to several headbutts, but nothing serious. 

Gundham glanced at his 'friend', " You can sit in the recliner, if you'd like, Komaeda." The offer seemingly didn't reach the other until he had offered yet again. The slightly taller male much rather not him claiming that he was fine with leaning against the door frame and that 'trash like himself' should not have to sit. Komaeda had become overwhelmed with positive comments towards himself, knowing that if he even tried to sit on the floor like he belonged they'd keep saying false statements when it came to him... so , reluctantly Komaeda actually sat down onto a couch, but sat up straight and refined, refusing to let himself completely relax on the furniture. It was a step in the right direction, at least. 

Miu had scoffed slightly when Komaeda had begrudgingly sat down on the couch, her arms still crossed as she mumbled softly, " Pfft... fuckin' bottom." 

Leon sighed and knocked on the wall near him, " Oi, Hiro, get over here and put this thing up!" 

The tall shaggy haired male walked by, letting part of his coat dangle off one side. " Yeah, yeah." He took the tiara away with a gloved hand like Leon had. Hagekure was... well, kind of a bum, but when it came to keeping important items, he was surprisingly careful and clean about it. The man was a fucking paradox and a half. 

Kokichi grinned widely, finding humor in the sudden pain in the ass of Komaede would find it to be to move, thinking himself lower than people. " Good boy. We should get you a collar sometime." He teased. 

Rantaro had watched as the tall and shaggy man carefully took the tiara from Kokichi, then turning to the purple haired boy himself and speaking. " So, what's your plans for getting rid of it this time? I know that you know it's way too valuable to just be pawned off for cash, so are you planning to give it back to the newbie detective again? Just like you did with the last two things we stole?" He asked. 

Kokichi looked away, pretending to be distracted from the others to answer the worried avocado. He didn't really know for sure on what to do next. This plan had been in a time frame for over the past few months-tough in the works, ever since Ibuki and Saionji had overheard about it. This was suppose to be a large break, but now came a detective who was interesting, and equally interested in the gang. " ... We've always returned items of the utmost value. Not like watches, trinkets, rings that aren't wedding ones, or other junk..." 

Hagekure came back after putting away the tiara safely, securely, and secretly before smiling like an idiot, " Hehe, I think those kids from the place down a few blocks mistook him as a dog once." 

" Didn't they mistake you as a pothead?" Leon interjected with the banter, watching the snow white haired boy sit into the recliner. 

Hagekure pointed out a finger, waving it about with his other hand on his hip, " He-He-Hey! That was one time, okay!" 

" Then you got tackled by Haiji." Leon grew a smirk, further pestering his friend. 

Miu had cackled from the interactions of the kids from a few blocks down mislabeling both Hagekure and Komaeda, holding her stomach in laughter and completely interrupting. " Oh my god! That was totally fuckin' hilarious!! Haiji went at you because he thought you smoked a couple of joints! The tight ass trying to tackle someone as tall as you down was a pretty fuckin' good show! Oh! Oh! And that time when one the little brats pulled on Leon's face pubes because they thought they were glued on!" 

Rantaro had noticed Kokichi's avoidance and hesitance when answering the more serious question he was asked, deciding to let him before new. He knew the leader had a few things on his mind and to think about after the previous events of this night, so it would probably be best to let him come to a decision without being prodded and forced to do so. So, instead of pushing him further he had chuckled and joined into the conversation the others were having. " Didn't the kid pull so hard that it left Leon's goatee patchy?" 

While Miu was ranting, Komaeda thought how fitting it would be to be put in the position of a dog... he glanced down at himself, confirming that he indeed could actually be mistaken for a dog. " A dog, huh...." 

The scarred member turned his cold gaze onto the marshmallow haired male's way and scoffed, " Komaeda, please do not indulge in that fact considering you are not some cur... Though they are loyal and behaved... Hrmm..." He thought before going to get some victory drinks. 

Yuta nearly doubled over, joining the maniacal laughter of the blonde, remembering those times fondly. The shaggy tall brunette scratched his frizzy hair before folding his arms and grinning, " Ohoho yeah! I tell you mon', they were about to go get a razor or somethin'!" 

The fiery red head rolled his eyes, " Yeah, yeah, says the apparent pothead of the bunch. And they nearly the the damn thing off! Then again, did the same with Momota..." 

" Ehhh, you can't really blame them or Haiji on that one, I constantly get the munchies-mmm, I could go some chips right 'bout now actually. Think I will!" He proclaimed, scampering off to the pantry as soon as Gundham came back, setting down a try of various drinks that each had preferred. 

As Leon settled down by leaning against the wall he swiped a soda from the table and suddenly held it tightly as he felt thumping outside. he looked in and rose a fiery brow as the liquid shook inside the can. " Oh boy, here she comes..." 

The door slammed open and a punk rock girl with multicolored hair leapt in, throwing her thick jacket off and at the recliner, not noticing someone had been sitting in it. " Oh god, it's colder than a witch's tit out there! Anyways, me and Saionji are back~! She's talking with the others on the other floor-But man that heist was gnarly! But we pulled it off, yahoo~!" She cheered as she bounced about. 

Leon sighed lightly, " I-Ibuki, calm down, the last time you did that, it shook the soda so when I opened it, it-" Right in his sentence as he opened it, it shot out foam and liquid all over him. " .... I had that coming." 

Komaeda didn't bother to remove Ibuki's coat when it was thrown onto him. Was a coat rack a lower position than a dog? He really hoped so. Miu had taken a soda off of the tray and had opened it quickly and started to gulp down the fizzy drink before Leon had gotten soda spurted all over him. Seeing this had made the vulgar blonde start to laugh, inevitably getting the drink that was in her mouth up her nose, and down the wrong pipe. She had fanned her nose slightly, coughing and trying to make the stinging go away and to regain her breath " Ah! God, fuck!!!" She shouted, " Warn a girl before it comes gushing out, geez!!" 

Yuta fell onto the floor, laughing a storm from the two, " Laugh it up ya' little skater boy!" Leon spouted as more of his drink further spat out onto him, making him curse and carry off to go wash the sticky substance off. " You deserve it too ya' slut!" he barked at Miu who was busy choking. 

Rantaro had smiled from the interactions when Ibuku had walked in, walking over to the tray on the table and grabbing himself a bottle of sweetened green tea and grabbing Kokichi's grape panta, walking over and handing the purple soda to him so he wouldn't have to get up and walk on his injured leg. 

Kokichi was cackling along with Yuta and now Ibuki who had joined in. Ibuki plopped on the couch's arm and dangled her legs, " Man I thought Haiji was going to flip his shit and bust a nut! And Junko flipped her shit several times over, it was hilarious! And those fireworks Kazuichi set were amazing! And-And-Oh shit what happen to your leg?!" 

The purple imp gave a small smile and scoffed, averting his eyes as he took the drink, tanking his old friend, " I didn't expect that princess to chase me. If it had just been mister detective, I'd have been fine. It's nothing big, besides we got the tiara and everyone fine, that's all that matters. Don't worry your pretty little blue and pink head." He said, casually leaning over and flickering the tip of her nose. 

At this point, Gonta and Kazuichi had finally made it, Yuta blinked, his expression morphed into that of surprise and amazement. " Sonia chased you?! She was wearing heels!" 

" How did she pull that off? She must be like Superwoman or something!" Ibuki said after fussing with her small poke of the nose. 

Kokichi laid his purple head onto a small couch pillow, " Thankful your sister and her... Girlfriend right? Whatever, weren't there. Those two are terrifying." He shuddered suddenly from imagining the swimmer girl's friend of a giant that sometimes put Gonta to shame. Kazuichi's magenta eye widened upon hearing how Sonia ran after him and was simply amazed. However as Hagekure came back with a photo of Komadea, a photo of when the kids had drawn on his face to cheer up everyone, Kokichi couldn't muster up any laughter, he stared at the ceiling thinking, reeling in everything, recalling past events. As everyone grouped around Hagekure to recall the fond memories of trying to scrub the ink off of Komaeda's face. 

While everyone was laughing and bonding over the picture that Hagekure had brought out of Komaeda, Rantaro had seen that Kokichi wasn't apart of it and seemed to have been thinking about other things. Sure, the green haired boy was concerned for Kokichi, but he also understood that sometimes the purple haired boy needed some time and some space to organize his thoughts about anything. But if he looked like he was stressing out too much over it, he would pull him out of it. But for now, he let him be and turned back towards the group conversation while still trying to keep an eye on the leader as well.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, the detective wasn't greeted with the casual talk and laughter it normally brought alongside for the ride, but instead an eerily strange silence presenting itself like a fog. Once he entered the dining room, Maki was washing some of the dishes, remaining her normal quiet self, while Kaito sat at the table with the pianist. Kaito had both elbows propped onto the table, chin and goatee resting on his knuckles, thinking or rather not wanting to say much. The trainee looked around once he heard the faintest creak of the floor, " Huh-O-Oh, hey Shuichi, mornin' there." He gave his usual smile, but his voice wasn't as effective and boastful as it tended to be. The play was something Kaede had been working on so hard was now engulfed with police all over the place where she felt relaxed and had put so much love into. 

The atmosphere that the room had wasn't normal, that's for sure. But it was to be expected, even if it was unpleasant. " G... Good morning." He mumbled softly before sitting down at the table with the trainee and the pianist who was exuding upset vibes. From the way she was slouched over at the table, from the way she grasped the mug full of hot tea in her hands to try and get some form of comfort to it, to how tired her eyes looked. Shuichi was used to reading body language in interrogations and questioning, but he didn't need all that experience to really tell how Kaede was feeling at the moment. She didn't even greet Shuichi when he had walked into the kitchen. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, the only sound being the occasional sound of water and clanking dishes from Maki's working. After a few minutes of silence, Kaede suddenly let go of her mug and sat up straight. She then closed her eyes tightly, slapping the sides of her face rather harshly. This made the bandaged up detective blink slightly from shock, not expecting something so extreme from her all of a sudden. 

After a couple more slaps to the face, Kaede took a deep breath and sighed it out, now putting a big smile on her face. "Let's do this!" She shouted enthusiastically, to pump herself up. " No more sulking! I'm going to take this in stride and just work on the next project that comes my way! No problem!" 

Shuichi was frozen slightly from the sudden change of attitude, being able to only mumbled out in a shocked tone " Y... You can be sad if you want to... It's understandable. You don't have to get over it so quickly, we know how much it meant to you." 

Kaede looked over at the detective and gave him a big yet gentle smile, " Sure, I'm upset about it. But it's not healthy to be so upset about it that it ruins everyone else's breakfast. It would have been okay if I was talking about how I was feeling, but I wasn't, so I'm getting over it! Because we can't change what happened in the past, only move forward towards the future!" 

" Damn right Kaede! We gotta' keep pressin' on forward for the future! And by the stars, we can take this damn shitty feelin' and ball it up into somethin' better!" He yelled out, standing up, making his chair slide back as he put a foot onto the table and pointed upwards at an angle yo give off his flashy smile to pump up the others. 

Maki walked by and slapped the trainee on the back of the head, " No feet on the table..." She left soon after, not saying much of a word to either of her friends, but did wave a hand. 

Kaito put his eager foot down and leaned back into his chair and scratched his mess of a hair, " Oww... Well not much point worrying about it now... but even then. Those damned bastards!" He slammed a fist onto the table before apologizing. " Sorry. I'll call in and let the the manager know it might not be best to go to work today. Ya' know, with all the police, it's the least I can do for ya' and uh, no offense Shuichi. Hopefully that bitch will listen." 

Shuichi had a small smile growing on his face from the sudden positivity of his friends, greatly admiring their ability to just turn their moods around that quickly and keep pressing forwards. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Kaito talking to him, looking at him and giving him an awkward smile and holding both of his hands up slightly " No no, it's okay, none taken." He reassured. 

Kaede had looked at Kaito with a big smile on her face, nodding softly and speaking kindly " Thank you, Kaito." She spoke, reaching down and grabbing her mug of tea, trying to drink it all at once to try and show that she was powerful enough to move on through the whole thing. But, she quickly retracted and flinched while putting the mug down on the table and fanning out her mouth " Ow, hot, hot, hot" 

Kaito chuckled softly, " Settle down there yeah? Jeez, we don't need two people in this house to have hand related injuries-though you two could be like twins at that rate!" he barked up some laughter. 

That was until there was a knock at the door, making the 'man of the house' answer it to find Hajime behind it and let in from the smiling trainee. Once he was in the warmed up abode he yawned lightly, " Oh hey, you're already up. Come on, let's go get some coffee, rough night, maybe it'll pep us up." He gave a faint smile, leading off to his patrol car, giving a simple wave to the the other two roommates. Shuichi had waved goodbye to his roommates and giving them a smile before getting into the car with the superior detective. 

Hajime seemed to be not as afflicted as the new detective, " Long night... I know yesterday was rough. But it... It happens. People get upset, people express, and people get over it by coping somehow. Whether it be with someone else or by themselves. You did your best and that's all that matters." He was more or less talking about how furious their boss was and how tired he seemed, but also how Shuichi's optimism was considering the two odd childhood friends got him to feel more positive outlook. He nodded softly at Hajime’s words of encouragement regarding what happened last night, a small smile on his face. 

“ Thank you.” He thanked him, looking out the window of the car once the two had hopped into it. Surprisingly though, he wasn’t really thinking about how grueling the workday ahead may be because of what happened last night. He was more excited-anxious. Anxious to see Kokichi at the diner that morning. He was wondering if the purple haired boy would even be there because of what happened last night, and if his leg injury would be obvious. Because at this point Shuichi was almost positive that Kokichi was the leader of D.I.C.E... now he just wanted to get closer to him. Thinking about this distracted Shuichi, making it seem like he was daydreaming. 

The two arrived at the diner, with little to no customers due to the severe chances that it may storm again. And in a small town, news gets around fat, so many people came to know that some doors could be frozen shut, hunkering down instead. " Hey Teruteru. Normal for me, and uh... Get something nice for Shuichi would you? We-He had a rather long day yesterday." He said a bit glumly before sitting down in his usual spot, weary and tired. 

Near them came the waiter... However he wasn't skating so elegantly like he always did. He shifted over biting nervously at the tip of his thumb, in thought before perking up to see the detectives. He grinned his usual cocky stance but stopped immediately as the glass doors behind the pair opened, making him flee to the kitchen like a cat in a field of fireworks. Straining with his leg a bit, bumping into the metal doors of the kitchen to avoid whoever had just came in through the frosted doors. Shuichi was looking forward to conversing with the purple haired boy, but was confused and disappointed that he had scurried away into the kitchen. Hajime peered over where the waiter had looked and instantly snapped his attention forward to Teruteru, his breath hitching as he tried to compose himself. 

The person who had come into the family diner was none other than Haiji, who caught the sight of the two and made his way over to sit down with them at his leisure. " Hinata, Saihara... Morning. Morning to you too Hanamaru. Could I get some black coffee with some bacon and an omelet?" The navy haired detective looked to the side and his whole body stiffened, seeing his boss sitting right next to him at the diner he had grown accustomed to. He really hoped Haiji wouldn’t do anything drastic... all he could to was remain cautious at this point. 

Teruteru peeked out the kitchen window at the new arrival, certainly not expecting him there, but treating him like a welcomed customer nonetheless, no matter people’s opinions on him. “ Comin’ right up sir!” The cheerful chef replied before going back to business. 

It took a bit but Kokichi regrettably had to do his job, the plump chef shooing him out of the safety of the kitchen and into the majority of the family diner. He steeled himself by tightening his scarf and taking a long deep breath before skating over in a messy manner, placing everyone's orders down. Haiji's yes narrowed, " So Ouma, what happen to your leg?" 

" Nishishi, I went hiking with Rantaro and some of the others~! He loves traveling around and what not, such an adventurer~! How was the play last night? Was is it dazzling, sparking, dreamy even~?!" He still kept his cheeky grin on his face. Before anyone knew it, the one arm that hadn't been wound up in a cast reached out and grabbed him by the gaudy scarf, reeling him in. 

" You know damn well how it went you little scum eating bastard. I have all the proof right here. Saihara! Take a look at his leg, tell me if it's the same as the fucker from yesterday." He barked out while Hajime tried to reason with him, only becoming a gradient background noise. 

Kokichi squirm slightly and chuckled, " O-Ohh, getting someone else to pat me down? Nishishi-kinky-ack!" His scarf was ringed in with more force. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when Haiji had suddenly grabbed onto Kokichi’s scarf and demanded to know if the injury on his leg was the same as the culprit’s injury last night. Sure, it was exactly the same, Shuichi knew that for sure... but he wouldn’t trust that information with someone like Haiji. Especially not after seeing how he truly treated Shuichi. “Sir!” Shuichi scolded, even though Haiji was his boss. This just wasn’t morally right... even if he was a suspect. “ This can be considered assault, he hasn’t done anything to threaten your immediate safety so please calm down!” He put a hand on Haiji’s shoulder, “ And that isn’t even the injury I saw! The leader last night had an injury on their other leg, more on the upper thigh area, not as low as that!” 

The hard boiled chief grunted, growling under his bitter grumbling, unhanding the young boy, " Right... Sorry, it's been a long night and-urgh, fuck..." He gritted his teeth harshly, going back to his drink. He ruffled his long locks and muttered more. 

Hajime put a hand onto Shuichi's shoulder, whispering, " Here, I'll handle him and tell Teruteru that Kokichi needed a break-go take him somewhere else." He gave a worried look to his partner before 'trying' to console their stubborn boss. At this point, Kokichi was currently limping as far away as possible and towards a hallway that led to the restrooms, slowly skulking away to disappear. He hadn't wanted to egg on Haiji, but tat's what his masks did well, and besides that, at this point they were always stuck onto him, for the most part. It was a gift and a curse at this point, which he didn't seem to mind to terribly much, but no one truly liked getting into trouble from something they couldn't keep under entire control. 

Shuichi had looked towards Hajime, giving him a small smile along with a nod. “ T-Thanks.” He whispered quietly before getting up and following Kokichi down the hallway he had looked down to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've ever seen Game Grumps and have encountered those moments where Arin says some bat-shit crazy nonsense, followed by a small pause, and Dan just go, " Arin... What the fuck are you talking about?' Is basically Leon and Gundham in a nutshell.


	20. I Don't Believe In Fairy Tales, But I Believe In You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to get out of dodge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always find malls to be relaxing for some reason

He had saw the purple haired boy limping his way down the hall, quickly but tenderly and gently grasping onto his hand and giving the smaller boy a comforting smile. “ Hey...how about we go for a walk or something? Maybe go get a coffee or something somewhere else?” 

" Oho, what's this, Mister Detective is treating me out huh~? Maybe I should try and get roughed up more just to spend more time with you." He snickered, though Shuichi could easily tell his hand was trembling. " If we go get coffee, you'll hafta' explain to 'mom' and deal with my hyper activity if you really wanna' go down that hell hole." He flashed a toothy grin. Again, he was great at voice, expression, body language, but when held ever so slightly, everything was just wrong, he was constantly living in a lie. 

Shuichi knew through the happy demeanor that Kokichi was actually terrified because of what just happened. Who wouldn’t be? But, he didn’t address it in the diner at the moment and would rather opt to talk about it later or somewhere more in private. Shuichi kept holding onto the purple boy’s shaky hand and let out a soft chuckle “ Maybe you’ll get hot chocolate or something then, I can’t really imagine you being more hyper than you already are.” He then started to walk out of the diner, still holding onto Kokichi’s hand and guiding him with him. 

Kokchi followed quietly for once, more than interested in where exactly they would go since the detective was still fairly new, not knowing much of the area. He did hope that Teruteru wouldn't mind this, but if so, he could always lie and say he didn't care about his kind boss' feelings. The purple watched Shuichi keep a guiding and soft grip on his hand and thought for a moment, tempting to press and push the other, see how far this kind act would really go. He kept reminding himself not to get to close, he needed the other to back off, just like everyone else, or they'd see right through him again, which only lead to hell and pain. 

Shuichi noticed how quietly the purple haired boy seemed to be following, finding it uncharacteristic of him. But, he decided to brush past it and act like he normally would. He walked out to the street, still guiding Kokichi by holding his hand. But... he stopped in place when he noticed something pretty crucial. He didn’t even know where to get a coffee in this town besides the diner. He looked sheepishly towards the smaller boy, using his spare hand to scratch the back of his head, “ Um... do you know a good place to get coffee...?” Kokichi had cackled out in laughter, knowing this would have happened. 

Eventually after teasing the poor navy haired boy about the fact he had no idea where he was going, the two found themselves at the large extravagant mall. The purple rascal weaseled his way through small groups of people as if trying to see if Shuchi could keep up, again being rather childish like a kid running off from their parental guide. Thankfully he did wait for the other boy, revealing Star-Lucks... with the odd almost albino looking cream white haired male behind the counter. " Heeeey~! You know me best by now-buuuut... Look who I snagged along~!" He grinned. 

Shuichi had walked with Kokichi up to the Star-Lucks, wondering why he hadn’t thought of this in the first place... he’s definitely walked past it and seen it before, but apparently he just didn’t remember it. From behind the counter, Komaeda greeted them with a smile and a wave. “ It’s an honor to have the both of you here.” He spoke, “ It’s humbling to see a familiar face and a somewhat familiar face, especially those who have much more talent that I ever will!” 

The smaller boy scoffed, chuckling to himself, " Why of course it is, I'm very prominent here after all, as well as Mister Detective." He waved an arm, bowing slightly as to greet Komaede with even more of a presence. He decided to indulge in the other's delusions out in public, however at home, it was such a different story, worrying over the male who deemed himself worthy as 'trash'. " Some Panta my good slave, and fetch my..." He snapped his fingers for a moment to think of a name for Shuichi, " Chaperone something nice with coffee." Shuichi raised a brow at how Kokichi was acting towards the marshmallow haired barista, but also at the nickname he, himself was given. Chaperone... did seem kind of fitting. But it also didn’t at the same time. 

Komaeda was very pleased when Kokichi had indulged in his self-worthlessness like behavior, a satisfied look on his face as he nodded to the smaller purple haired boy. “ Of course, coming right up~” He spoke before going back to get the soda and to create the coffee drink. 

Kokichi took his own drink and grinned, " Thanks ya' unlucky son of a gun~!" He snickered, walking to a table far away from any people, trying to rid of his gammy leg for the most part, but not quite pulling it off fully. 

Once the two sat down, Kokichi's charismatic and smiles whittled away, putting his elbows onto the table and clasping his hand together to give a rather serious demeanor suddenly, " I know you want to chat, and if I ask why you helped me up, I'll get some half ass excuse like; it's wrong, or some bullshit like that, so let's cut to the chase, huh?" Did he mean last night or earlier today... Probably the latter. 

Sitting across from Kokichi really amped the sudden change in demeanor, making something in the pit of Shuichi’s stomach stir as he looked across the table at the person sitting across from him. He cleared his throat softly, placing both of his forearms on the table and sitting up strait to try and exude confidence in a situation where he wasn’t very confident. “ What would the chase be other than just wanting to help you...?” He asked. “ I covered for you because I want to know more about you, and if you go to jail I won’t be able to do that.” 

Kokichi's casual smile came back full tilt but in a much twisted manner, " You want to know about moi~? Jeez, you haven't even invited me out on our first date, nishishi!" he chuckled into his hand a bit before his eyes picked up on the small cut on the other's finger. " Heeey, what happen to your finger~?" He asked rather coyly, seeing if he could hop onto topics quickly, toying with him as he opened his soft drink. 

Shuichi looked at the small cut on his finger before looking back towards Kokichi with a confused expression on his face. Kokichi was the one who gave it to him...but he might just be trying to cover it up. He sighed softly before speaking his mind openly, “ I’m pretty sure you were there when I got it...” He mumbled softly, looking at him and taking a sip of his coffee drink after he had spoken. 

Kokichi raised a thin brow, he then leaned back into his chair and shifted his gaze about to make sure no one was looking at them before taking out a small box cutter and placed it on the table, " Don't worry I keep it clean, it's used for opening... things, ya' know just in case Teruteru needs help unpacking. Sooo, let's play a game~! If you hurt me like all the other detectives and Haiji, thinking I'm some kinda' crazy idiot with some gang, I'll give you a lie. Don't hurt me and I'll tell you a truth. Though... I could be lying and I could actually mean if you don't take the opportunity to get back, I'll give you a lie and if you do actually harm me, you get a truth~! I mean, I'd be fine with being punched but we're in a public area after all... So, will you play?" 

Shuichi widened his eyes when Kokichi explained the rules of the game, finding it too risky and threatening to even try even in a more secluded area. Shuichi shook his head almost immediately, looking at the purple haired boy in shock. “No, definitely not!” He whisper shouted, to keep it down in a public place, “ Under no circumstances would I even agree to a game that might potentially hurt someone!” He took the box cutter off the table, placing it on the floor and kicking it under Kokichi’s chair with a determined look on his face. He didn’t want to keep the box cutter and come off as threatening, but he also wanted to show he didn’t want to play the game at all. “ How about you come up with a game that doesn’t involve a box cutter or any other form of physical weapon?” He sighed, putting his hand on his head and running his fingers through his hair while trying to think of something, “ How about... two truths and a lie? Expect we could make it two lies and a truth. We’d have to stick to the rules of the game, and the facts and lies would get more serious as we progressed?” 

" Ugggggh, so boring... But I'll have my way eventually~." He gave off a darker grin then previously. " Okay, okay... I'll go along with it for now." He said in a dull manner, managing to drag the small weapon back and surprisingly well enough to kick it up onto the edge of his shoe to grab it and stuff the blade away. " Just hope ya' know, when you play games, not all the rules will be to your liking, I know that well enough. How many of these truths do we go through exactly? Cuz' I've got plenty of facts about me, since you find me so 'enduring' for some reason, nishishi~." 

Shuichi had thought for a second about how long they should play the game for, or how far they should take the truths. “ How about... until we both mutually agree that it’s time to stop playing the game.” He suggested, knowing that the purple haired boy would try to do something to try and askew the rules in whatever was possible. But he was ready for it, already thinking of solutions in his head. 

" Alright then... I think Haiji is a dick, I have a birthmark that's shaped like a star, annnnd I know the geographical coordinates of the north pole to find Santa~!" He gave a smug grin, obviously knowing to start low and have the other guess what would be the obvious truth and lies. Keeping his mask fully equipped and weaseling around what Shuichi really wanted. 

Shuichi immediately knew what Kokichi's lie was, just from hearing stories and watching interactions between him and Haiji. "Well, the first one is the truth. How you think Haiji's a... a bit of a dick. That one was fairly obvious." the detective pointed out 

" Well mister know-it-all... What are your truths and lies going to be, huh? Or... Am I just playing 'your' game without you being afflicted by these tedious rules?" He purred out, eyes focusing on the other intently. 

Shuichi had been caught off guard by the sudden tone the purple haired boy hand, glancing off to the side as he replied " N-No, I'm thinking of some right now..."He mumbled, taking a few moment to actually think about his reply before looking up at Kokichi again and clearing his throat, " Currently I'm not living with anyone...I'm a detective.... and I'm a girl." 

" I knew those feminine hips were hiding your actual gender~!" He snickered gleefully before waving a hand, " I jest, I jest, of course your a detective... Hrm let me see..." He stuck out his tongue, thinking to himself quietly before giving a Cheshire's grin, " I've seen a shooting star, my wishes always came true, and I hate pickled pig's feet." He leaned back, taking in another sip of his drink... At this point it was difficult to say if he was giving one or two truths... 

Shuichi had blushed slightly when Kokichi joked about his hips, puffing his cheeks out slightly and looking out to the side before Kokichi responded with another set of things. This one was a bit harder... though none of the items on the list were super bad, it still set a tone that this was probably going to start to get harder at some point. " Ummm..." Shuichi thought out loud, " You hate pig's feet?" He asked. 

" Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner... So, you still want to keep going? If so, I'm all ears" He flashed a quirky smile, chuckling rather darkly, warning the other that things were going to start escalating very rapidly, pure chaos and malice in his eyes as he stared holes into Shuichi. 

Shuichi was a little off-put by the tone that Kokichi was using so suddenly, but definitely didn't want to back down at all. So, he nodded and spoke firmly, " I do want to keep going." He then took another few moment before speaking again, wanting to try and think of something that might stump the purple haired boy " Hmmm... I don't like sweet things, I've dated someone before, and my Mom and Dad didn't get me anything for my 16th birthday." 

Kokichi's forehead furrowed as he tried to think, crossing out what could potentially be a lie" ..... Mom and Dad not there for you?" He asked, he was fairly sure that Shuichi had been out with someone, even given his petite and shy mannerisms. By the way he looked he was pretty sure the detective could get a good looking girl or guy for that matter. 

Shuichi smiled softly and nodded when Kokichi had guessed correctly. " Yeah, nice job." He commented softly, deciding not to further elaborate on the answer more unless he was asked to. " Your turn." He spoke with a smile on his face. 

Kokichi's expression faltered for a split second, now knowing having a chance with the detective would probably be slim, even if he had said he was interested in knowing him. His eyes glanced away, " My uncle and aunt left me, I use to live like royalty, and I was trapped in my own little paradox of a box for years..." His cheeriness evaporated away so quickly it was rather unnerving for the navy haired boy. And at this point, again, it was hard to know if any these were actually lies anymore, even if they were vague and cryptic.. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly at all of the information he was given. From the tone of Kokichi's voice, the look on his face, the way his cheeriness went away in the blink of an eye. He wasn't exactly off put at all, if anything he wanted to know about all of those things...it only made him more curious, and didn't drive him away. From all the clues from body language and facial expression, as well as clue he's gathered in the past, he could safely say this to the purple haired boy, " You... you broke the rules of the game, didn't you?" He asked softly, " I... I'm guessing all of those are true." 

The cursing grin splayed forth from nowhere, cheeky eyes slanting to keep their gaze locked onto the other as Kokichi waggled his finger, " Did I? Are you sure? Because I'm fairly certain I just told you two lies and one truth, it's up to you to call out what's real and what isn't, isn't it~?" Again, he was back to toying, showing how well at acting he was... If he was acting, or maybe he was acting right now. Kokichi was as sly as he wanted to make himself out to be, that was for sure. 

Shuichi wasn't going to let the toying demeanor get to him. He knew his instincts were right on this one, he was almost positive on it. He was sticking to his guns, despite how much Kokichi's grin was giving him the chills. He then shook his head, looking right back at Kokichi, " And I'm fairly certain you told me three truths." the detective said firmly. " The game can't be played correctly if one party doesn't abide by the rules..." 

" Heh, fine, fine... Have it your way even though I clearly told two lies." He chuckled, shrugging and shaking his head slightly, finding Shuichi all too amusing at this point. " I don't trust you, I trust you, or I know what I am and what I'm here for." He kept his stance, opening one eye to watch Shuichi. 

Shuichi thought for a moment about the new options, completely ignoring the fact that his turn got skipped over. He got to learn potentially new information about Kokichi after all, so it was okay. After a few seconds of thought he spoke " Though I wish it was the seconds one... I know the first one is most likely the truth." 

Kokichi raised his hand together to clap, almost mockingly, " Nishishi, look whose learning~. You should know, it's hard to actually rely on anyone. People are selfish creatures of habit, they take what they can get and let the rest crumble away... Not everyone, just the majority from what I've learned. Your go." 

Shuichi had listened to Kokichi before replying “ Well, I hope I can be different from the majority then.” He commented with a smile on his face before trying to think of something else to put out there. Maybe... he thought of something to say before speaking with an emotionless expression in his face, to try and prevent Kokichi from reading anything on his face to determine the answer. “ I’ve sent a guilty woman to her death, I was too late to save an innocent man that I put on death row, I blame myself for my parent’s death.” 

Kokichi's sly eyes narrowed, looking for an sort of reading on Shuichi before putting more thought into it... Unfortunately, he didn't really know much about the detective. He was always indulging in what odd past Kokichi exhibited that he rarely said much about himself, " ... Now whose breaking the rules? But very well... Have it your way. I'm sure someone of your meekness blames themselves for their parents death. Unless your some heartless bastard..." 

Shuichi didn’t really respond to Kokichi’s real answer, but was more interested in what prefaced the answer. He spoke curious and to the point when asking the question “ What makes you think I’m breaking the rules?” He asked “ Do you think that there’s more than one truth?“ 

" Your part of the police... Why wouldn't you be responsible for someone's death? Yeah, sure, they help people, but sometimes obvious things can shoot past their radar, making them think they did all they could, that they didn't have any horrid outcomes on other people." It was more apparent that he still blamed Haiji, and such, blamed the police for not helping him out when he desperately needed it the most. And as another insult to injury, he wouldn't be trusting them any time soon, even Shuichi. 

Shuichi had looked at the purple haired boy as he spoke, now knowing more about his opinions on the police. Well, more like rooting them into a solid option than just a vague understanding. He nodded softly when Kokichi gave his opinion, acknowledging it before continuing onto the game. “ Well...your guess was correct, I do blame myself for my parent’s death. However, I still stuck to the rules of the game. I didn’t cheat.” 

" Tch, you're a good man Charlie Brown..." He was saying tat, thankful the other two were lies and he didn't have any actual deaths happen because of him. " Sorry..." He said quietly, feeling the blame the detective had eat up at him on the inside. He knew the feeling all too well, even more in fact. " I enjoy lying all the time, I feel responsible for three deaths, or I was able to be a hero..." His voice cracked slightly, he was too far into his own thoughts to really keep up the act anymore. He partially wished he didn't know much of his past aside from the small recollections he had when he was tiny child. He wished he had it all fabricated for him, that way, having the mask up was easier. But reality started to scrape inside his thoughts. He didn't know how to fully stop since Shuichi had said it was a game. That was the problem and a major flaw, he didn't know when to end these types of games. 

Shuichi had heard the voice crack, knowing that the game was probably getting to him, and knowing that Shuichi should wrap it up pretty soon before Kokichi completely exploded. But he wanted to answer this round and give one more set of a truth and two lies of his own. He thought about what Kokichi had said, thinking about it for a moment before replying, “ Hm...I think you were able to be a hero.” 

The purple haired boy's teeth clenched together, again showing that he wasn't as stable as he had made himself appear to be. If Kokichi had been in another setting, he could have swayed Shuichi off with ease, but this wasn't the case here. He chuckled under his breath, looking down, " H-He-Hehe-nishishi... That's sweet of you... Anyways, no. I'm no hero. Never was, never will be. You're turn." This in theory proved Shuichi, that he might be the person from the institution, but it came at a painful cost to see the other hold onto the bits of his mind that weren't fucked up. 

Shuichi was disappointed that Kokichi didn’t see himself as being heroic... but that was a problem to tackle another time. That meant one of the other things was true, and those weren’t good things to be true either... it really would make sense if Kokichi was the same person from the institution... Shuichi cleared his throat to snap himself out of his thoughts. He found that even with all of the baggage Kokichi seemed to have, he was really fun to be around, even if he did tease the detective a lot. He would like to get to know him more, even if it was outside of work related things. Especially outside of work related things. He hadn’t felt this way with anyone else, and hasn’t felt this way before. So... Shuichi just boldly assumed it was one certain emotion he felt towards the purple haired boy. Shuichi just had to muster up the courage to ask him.... The navy haired boy took a deep breath before he prepared his next statements, “ These can be the last ones, if you want, but...” he took another deep breath. “ I don’t think Ouma Kokichi is the leader of D.I.C.E, I don’t think Ouma Kokichi is connected to Kimishun Daisachi and Akihito Tajako in some way..... and I would like to call the trip to the pizzeria I owe Ouma Kokichi a... a date.” 

Kokichi seemed to be downing himself at the moment, thinking to hard on the past and how it effected him everyday when he when he tried to sleep. " Haha... It's nice to know neither of us trust one another. You don't need to call it a date, a date would mean we'd both express feelings for one another, and I'm pretty sure that's not happening, but... Thanks, you do owe me. My final ones are... I'm not the leader of D.I.C.E., I enjoy being hurt, or, your going to be visited by someone if your alone tonight..." He normally would have tease Shuichi, but in Shuichi's golden eyes, he could tell he was dealing with a flaked mask. 

Something in Shuichi’s heart stung when the purple haired boy had basically rejected his proposal to make it a date. Maybe he did have a point... or maybe Shuichi just had to work harder to make himself appear more likable or trustworthy. Either way, it still hurt. His thoughts were preoccupied with what Kokichi said to truly think about the options he was presented, but lightly thought them over for a couple seconds before snapping himself out of his thoughts, “ O-Oh, um, the last one’s the truth...?” He asked softly. 

Kokichi didn't answer him, noticing his drink was empty and promptly got up to toss it away into a recyclable bin, either ignoring or not hearing Shuichi. It was relatively hard to say considering Kokichi's cheeky demeanor had near melted away as the game went on. His eyes seemed glazed with inner turmoil as they shifted around to find a particular shop, heading to it. Normally he'd have gotten back to the diner by now, or dismissed worries without a hassle, but when his emotions wracked around n him, he became apathetic while he slowly glued back his mask. He didn't even wait for Shuichi, much like a small bored child and instead went into a curiosity store nearby. Shuichi had watched as Kokichi walked out of the coffee shop without even waiting up for him. He felt guilty about putting this purple haired boy in this troubled state, and didn’t want to leave him like this. So, the detective followed him into the store he went to nearby, to see what he would do. 

The store they entered was decorated from head to toe, wall to wall with exotic looking items from all over the world,some seeming like artifacts, but mostly prominent of knick-knacks and useless things to fill up a bare bookshelf, aside from some burning sticks that filled the air with a sweet aroma. Beanbags were placed around some shag like carpeting with some tribal masks overflowing the walls to peer on whoever would sit down and pet the hermit crabs in a small sanded table, supplied with fresh food. On one bean bag was a much older male with raggedy hair that was almost akin to an afro, while a green sleeve poked off from where it should have been worn, much like Kaito's jacket. Thankfully for Shuichi, the purple gremlin was sitting on a beanbag next to the man with stubble. Shuichi had blinked slightly when he walked into the store, looking around and being able to spot Kokichi’s purple hair in the store rather easily even among the various clutter in the store. Shuichi walked up to Kokichi, who was sitting on the bean bag, not really sure on what to say to him. But, it would seem impolite not to at least greet the big haired man sitting next to him. “ Um, hello...” He mumbled softly, before looking back to Kokichi who seemed to be absentmindedly immersing himself into the plush comfort of the bean bag. 

The young man gave a grin and waved a hand lazily, " Hey mon', so you must be the guy Kichi's been goin' on about, nice ta' meet cha'. Name's Hagekure Yasuhiro, you can call me Hagakure or Hiro, don't matter mon'." 

Kokichi was back to his casual grin and devious look, either being able to cheer up quickly or sliding back his infamous mask back on, " Oh there you are~! Nishishi, sorry, I forgot that I left you behind. I was sure I told you-but oh well, can you really blame me? Anyways, this is one of my roomies or flat mates if you will." 

The scraggly man gave an affirmative nod, " Yup, and Kichi here won't shut up about you, you musta' peaked his interest, which is a first-Ahh!" He whined out as the younger boy gave a quick kick to his leg. " I'm just saying that it doesn't happen ofte-ahh! Would you stop kickin' me!" 

Shuichi was flattered by the fact that apparently he had gotten Kokichi's interest when apparently it was really hard to do so...a modest blush appeared on his cheeks as he chuckled from the interaction between the two, noting how friendly the two seemed to be with each other, kicking or otherwise. " Well... it's nice to meet you, Hagekure. I'm Saihara Shuichi, if you didn't already know..." He cleared his throat slightly, to clear up any awkwardness he might be feeling. He then glanced at one of the many clocks on the wall, widening his eyes to see how late it had already gotten. And Hajime didn't specify when he wanted him back, or where to meet him... this made Shuichi anxious. " W-Well, it was nice to meet you." He spoke to the big haired man before turning to Kokichi " And it was nice getting to know you, Kokichi. We still need to make plans to go to the pizzeria... and it'll be hard to contact you without going directly to the diner, so...." Shuichi had a slight blush on his cheeks, not knowing why but wishing it would stop. " I was wondering if..." He trailed off slightly, " I could get your phone number? So we could stay in contact?" 

Kokichi's grin widened to the extreme, " Ohhho, what's this~? Mister Detective is asking for my number~?! Oooh, I feel like a lucky girl." He snickered before snatching s piece of paper from Hagakure's notebook that lay on the counter near the cash register, tearing off a piece along with snagging a pen. 

" H-hey, hey, hey, don't ruin my notes!" The shaggy male pointed an accusing finger to the other, only to have Kokichi stick his tongue at him. 

" Would you relax, all you do is doodle anyways! Like this giraffe." 

" Th-That's suppose to be a dog..." Hagekure gave a small puff and pout, grumbling as his fingers fiddled with his long dreads. 

Kokichi skillfully made the small bit of paper into a plane and tosses it over, having it crash into Shuichi's forehead, " There ya' go~! Nishishi, hope to hear from you soon~!" For having rejected the idea of a date, he sure seemed excited. This could all be an act or maybe he was actually thinking he hadn't had a chance with the detective. It was all very strange. 

Shuichi had flinched when the piece of paper his his forehead, but picked it up off the ground and folded it up in a much more nicer and neat way before sliding it into his pocket to put into his phone later. The purple haired boy did seem rather exited about giving him his number... maybe that was a step in the right direction? Getting closer to him before... askinghimout-but anyways, the detective really did want to get closer to the purple haired boy beyond what his job was telling him to do... and if he had to embarrass himself to get the boy's number than so be it. But, he really was curious why Kokichi gladly gave him his number... Shuichi shook those thoughts out of his head, realizing that he needed to head out of the store as soon as possible to get back to Hajime. " Th-Thanks," Shuichi stuttered out. " I'll talk to you later then" He added before turning around and walking out towards the store quickly to avoid further embarrassment. 

Once he had run off to get back to his elder partner, Hagekure gently picked up one of the small hermit crabs, fussing with it, " You've got it bad mon'." Kokichi's reply was simple... Another kick to the leg to the baggy pants made him jump slightly in place, this in turn making the crab pinch him, " Ahhh! Why is everything against me?!" He cried out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Hagekure... How the fuck did you survive in canon?


	21. Leave That Old Record Spinning, You Feel The Rhythm Going

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the gallows, in the theater~!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, just like Monaca, and a bit of Mukuro and Komadea... Junko and Tsumugi are not bat-shit insane... I just now noticed Danganronpa has a lot more crazy chicks than dudes... Weird...

Meanwhile Hajime had been scouring about to find his partner, thankfully for Shuichi's sake he was outside of the elaborate mall, about to get his cell phone out to call the other, now regretting how stupid he was as he didn't think of that sooner. " Fucking idiot-way to go Hajime..." He grumbled to himself, feeling like a total tool as he had just wasted precious time. " Ugh, Junko's going to have a fit..." 

Shuichi had seen Hajime outside of the mall, sighing happily that he didn’t have to go and scour around the town for him. He approached the superior detective, an apologetic smile on his face. “ Hey!” He called out softly while jogging towards him, stopping just in front of him. “ Sorry that took so long, I hope I didn’t cut into any time that was supposed to be for our duties today-I can also definitely stay late if you need me too!” 

" Ehh your fine, I was just about to call you actually." He gave out a small sigh, " We have to head to the theater-it's going to be a living hell so best be on your feet. Sorry about earlier, chiefs just in one of those really shitty moods." He said, leading the navy haired boy into the patrol car. " So... You dragged off Kokichi to here huh? I know it's none of my business, but how'd that go exactly?" He asked, starting up the car with a sputter and wheeling out from the parking lot of frosted layered cars. 

Shuichi heated up from the gradual heat of the patrol car, snuggling into his coat slightly and trying to think of a good answer for Hajime. Obviously he couldn’t spill everything that the two of them discussed... but... maybe he could get some advice from Hajime on one of the subjects that he had brought up to Kokichi before. “ Well, um...” Shuichi muttered slightly, “ It went well. We went to go get coffee, talked a bit...” Shuichi mumbled even quieter, “ I asked him out in a date...” He the talked at a normal volume again, “ We talked about Haiji, what he thinks of detective, and so on...” 

Hajime at this point listened, nodding as he accepted the information before slamming the brakes as some information finally caught up with him. He swerved his head for his now widened eyes to look at Shuichi with an open mouth of doubt, " What?! Dude... What?!" He coughed into his own arm, tearing away his sudden gaze, " I-I mean... Uhm... Uh..." His eyes shifted about before he continued to drive, " I didn't hear anything." He quickly protested from his sudden outburst, not wanting his partner to feel even more self conscious. 

Shuichi’s heart leaned out of his chest when Hajime suddenly broke and had a loud outburst in the car, well not literally. That definitely didn’t help his nerves in the slightest... The navy haired boy slowly took a few deep breaths to try and regain his composure and lower his anxiety back down to a manageable level with an embarrassed blush on his face. He glanced off to the side, clearing his throat softly before speaking, “ N... No... You heard it...” He spoke hesitantly, “ A-And you heard it right.” 

Hajime waved a dismissing hand, " Nope, no, I didn't hear anything, don't worry about it! I super did not hear anything and I am neither telling anyone what I didn't hear... Wink, wink, nudge, nudge." Did he really just say wink and nudge out loud? Finally he pulled into the theater's lot, settling the car with it's ice sheeted brethren, getting out and pushing a hand to his neck to pop it. " Okay. Just got to ask a few things then we can leave." 

The superior detective just dismissing what he had heard from Shuichi didn't make him feel any better about the situation, hoping to have a more direct reaction than that... he didn't even really know if the response was a good or bad one to be honest. But, once they got to the theater, he tried to steady his mind and focus on the job at hand. They had to ask questions regarding to what happened last night... and it might be a little crazy in there... Once Shuichi got out of the car, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and come back down to a level where he could interact well with other people. He then started to walk inside with Hajime through the cold hair, pulling the collars of his coat over his ears. 

They'd needed to ask the people who partook in the play, but weren't going to deal with Kaede, at least not for today after what Kaito was able to convince Kaede needed rest. The inside of the spacious theater smelled of popcorn and other commodities of the same snack nature. Now that there wasn't a crowd, Shuichi could have a better look and see most of it led to movies while a small yet large portion was for plays. " Hello~! How can I help-oh it's you two." Saionji huffed behind the snack counter on a stool. She got the job when a play wasn't going on and didn't need to rehearse. For this, she was able to get free gummies and slushies here and there. 

Shuichi noted the not-so-enthusiastic second half of a greeting they had gotten from the small blonde haired girl working the snack counter, part of him only just now realizing that they probably had to talk to her about what had happened last night. She wasn’t a bad person at all or anything like that in Shuichi’s eyes, but... she might be a little bit harder to get information out of without a hostile attitude. “ Hello,” Shuichi greeted with a soft smile on his face as him and Hajime approached the counter. “ We’re here to ask about a couple questions regarding last night.” 

" Yup. What were you doing at the time, what did you see, and what did you do?" Hajime nodded, getting out a notebook and pen, making the blond groan. 

" Uggggh, I hate twenty questions. I was in the play you dumb-ass, you saw me! I was Chip! The teacup! I was on stage getting ready to bow but suddenly smoke just went boosh! I ran out through the back stage and fled into the lobby because my little lungs can't take that." She gave a small puppy dog face before resuming. " I was coughing so much that before I noticed, Splooichi and Miss Sonia tripped over me like roadkill hung out to dry. I saw some guy wearing a weasel mask-or wait... was it a badger? No, no, fox, my bad. Anyways fox face snatched the tiara from Miss Sonia and ran off. Then they both ran off. When I got back to the room, people were getting up cause the bad people left." 

Shuichi had listened to the small blonde’s testimony of what had happened last night, not writing down notes like Hajime was, rather committing everything she said to his long term memory. He nodded at her testimony, deciding that it had checked out. He also decided to ask his own question. “ During the production, did you notice anything strange or any other suspicious characters that were behind stage? Ones that weren’t normally there?” 

She stubbornly tapped her sandals against the tie flooring, " Nothing was unusual, everything was fine. None of our costumes were missing or anything. Literally when they came swooping down, that's when they got there. They didn't come sooner than what everyone saw-also, I'd like a damn apology since you nearly ran over me!" She snarled out. 

Hajime sighed, " He'll apologize later, what happen after those three ran off?" 

" I wasn't talking to you Hanky-jime!" She slammed her hands onto the glass counter and pouted out a frown casted with angry eyes. " Anyways, when I got back to the place, the baddies were already gone. If it weren't for that smoke, I would'a punched them out!" 

Shuichi took down everything she was saying while not being fazed by her aggressive attitude, not really thinking of anything that was wrong with her testimony... all of the people that were at the play could have backed her alibi as well. The navy haired detective nodded, a guilty look on his face. “ Thanks for answering our questions about what happened, and... and I apologize for leaving you there after I had tripped over you. I had a urgent and pressing matter going on that I had to keep up with, otherwise I would have definitely helped you up and apologized on the spot...” 

The small girl huffed a stray strand of hair from her face, " Yeah... Sure, whatever. Anyways, your welcome I guess..." 

" Same, thanks gremlin." Hajime said, patting her hair and brushing his hand off afterwards, making the child like girl rant in further anger, but not actually doing anything. He headed to the back of the theater, where another stage was set near the music department. Sometimes the triple theater got bands to play at the town, but never had a band that was permanent, letting one person test out their songs. 

Hajime approached the stage as a girl set up a guitar and knocked on the wooden flooring of the stage. " Hey, Ibuki. Got some things to ask." 

Ibuki stopped, having her back turned to them, then propped her head back as if she was staring into the sky until her upside-down eyes met the two. She fell on her back and scrambled to get up and smiled, " Hey Hajime~! OH! Hello new police-officer guy! I'm Mioda Ibuki, master of the music here!" She puffed up in pride then slowly curled down, " Er well... One of them at least ehehe." 

Shuichi had noted Ibuki’s... interesting personality and tried to adapt to it as best as possible so they could ask her questions in the best way possible. Giving her a soft smile, Shuichi introduced himself as well. “ It’s nice to meet you, Ibuki. I’m Shuichi Saihara.” He then got down to business, “ During the incident last night, where were you, what were you doing, and what did you see?” 

From the back, they could hear another female scoff, heels clicking against the wooden flooring. She emerged from the shadows, her electric blue eyes glinting with annoyance and she had an air of superiority around her. " Hey 'Buki, have you seen..." The newcomer noticed the cops, her annoyed look got even worse. "Oh great, the twink squad is here..." 

Hajime took in a sudden breath, bracing himself for the brash comments and difficult interrogation he and Shuichi would both come to face within a matter of seconds. After relaxing himself quietly he turned his heel and gave a smile to the fashionista and manager of the theater, " Ahhh, Junko. It's so good to see you." He clasped his hands together to stow away any aggression into the depths of his mind. " Just the lady of the hour I wanted to see right after Ibuki." Ibuki merely waved enthusiastically to her boss with a big dumb smile plastered on her face. 

She raised a brow, looking at Hajime rather curiously. " You seem rather cheerful today, finally scored a girl?" Junko laughed, although it sounded a little odd to him, as if it where some sort of chant rather than an actual laugh. " Alright, all things put aside, who's the new kid?" She walked closer to Shuichi, which caused him to involuntarily step back. The blonde scowls, which is enough to get him to stay nearly still. " Kind of a pussy I see, but at least he has a great figure. Gotta' admit, a little jealous of his hips." 

Ibuki covered her mouth with both hands to not burst into hideous laughter and slowly lowered them, " I-I need to go t-to the uh-uh... Bathroom yeah!" She hopped off from the stage and dashed out, trying to stifle the loud sound of cheerful laughter like a hyena on crack. 

Shuichi felt really intimidated by Junko’s presence, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he backed away from her. He also got flustered when, yet again, someone mentioned his feminine hips. He might start to get self conscious at this point...scratch that, he was more than a little self conscious about it now. He had an embarrassed hint of a blush on his face before he at least made an attempt to try and introduce himself to Junko. “ Ah... my name is Saihara Shuichi. It’s a pleasure to meet you...” 

Hajime stepped forward, not backing down and held his smile with an angered look, " First off, Chiaki and I have been trying to date but work calls. I see you have yet to get any. And second this is my new assistant, Shuichi. He's just a bit timid is all, but he's got a good heart." The brunette folded his arm, his anger suppressing once he had told her off... Or at the very least swatted her pestering words away. 

" Yeesh, just messin with ya', thought you'd know that since you are the detective here. Should have known better, huh?" The blond idly takes a quick look at her nails before looking back at the two males, more at Shuichi than anything else. " Anyways, It's a pleasure to meet 'cha. I'm Enoshima Junko, the manager of this establishment." 

Shuichi still didn’t really know how he felt about Junko, his introduction to her a little on the gray side... he wished he had as much strength as Hajime to just talk back to her so confidently like that, or anyone for that matter. He guessed it was just something he had to work on. He nodded slightly when Junko had introduced herself to him, a soft smile on his face. “ We have some questions about the incident that occurred last night.” 

Hajime nodded, " You know the drill Junko." He said casually, taking out his pen again, clicking the end for the ink tip awaited to be used. " What were you doing at the time, what did you see, and wha-?" 

She crossed her arms, her foot tapping against the wooden flooring, interrupting him. " What did I do, yeah, yeah... I was back stage, praising Tsumugi about her wonderful work on the costumes. She's quite the gal when she opens up, ya know? Back to the topic, She then asked how we managed to haul that tiara over here. Halfway through my explanation, some big burly guy grabbed me and Tsumugi before the play was interrupted by that damned fox guy and his animal rabies brigade. For the most part, I was backstage since they tied me up not too long after until we got out due to Tsumugi's backup scissors in her pocket. Those things are more fucking helpful than they appear to be." 

" Maybe you two should hook up." Hajime spat out lightly, not thinking rationally as he jotted down on the paper. " And from the sounds of things that I got from the others last night, after they left you went into full fury mode. Got it. Did you get a good look at the big guy? I know he was wearing the same get-up, but what was his mask, and how large would you say he was?" He asked before catching the glimpse of the small cringe, making a mental note on that. 

" Maybe we will." She sneered, " We're close anyways." Junko then went deep into thought, trying to recall all details needed. " Hmm... He was extremely tall, towering, maybe taller than 'beefycakes' herself." Shuichi noticed the traces of a scowl or tease was gone from her recollection of the man she had seen. " Sloth mask, and I believe it's due to the shoes he was wearing though. The guy was wearing bell-bottom pants so it would've easily hid the footwear he was wearing, it could've increased his height. 6'6 or around 6'5 is his actual height if my calculations and quick observation is correct." Shuichi took in everything that Junko was saying to memory, about the appearance of one of the assailants and when he potentially looked like under the mask and get up... it would probably, no, most likely help sniff out one of the culprits later. Shuichi didn’t think of anything else he really wanted to ask, not that he wanted to ask Junko anything more anyways... he wasn’t very used to her yet, and the way that Hajime had reacted to her or spoke to her seemed like something Shuichi wasn’t very capable of doing yet. So, he thought it would be better off if he stepped back a little from this one... 

" Yeesh, taller than Sakura. That's a scary thought." Hajime dismissed the thought from knowing one person who was taller and as muscular as the women. " Hrm... Sounds like that one case when I saw one about eight feet tall and skinny. Possible use of stilts. We're they skinny, fat, strong? Any of these may help-key word 'may', due to them having fake boobs and fat suits at times." He groaned. He had learned that the hard way as he once chased a member in the mall, only to watch as their entire body deflated right in front of his eyes, scurrying out of the doors with ease. 

She went back into her thoughts, trying to pull out anymore details she could muster up from her memories. " Thinking... He may have been big, but when he grabbed me and Tsumugi, his limbs felt really soft and plush, as if they were added in there. Tsumugi claims she felt metal there too, but at first I thought she was babbling shit cause' of the shock but maybe not so... Maybe it was just some skinny schizophrenic teenager wearing some sort of padded suit..." 

" Alright. I'm regretting to say this but, thank you. And... I'm glad you didn't get hurt." Hajime sighed softly from the clues he was given, though there wasn't much. " Let's get going Shuichi. Ibuki still has yet to tell us what she saw and heard-and yes, 'heard' she has extremely good ears like a bat." He mentioned, walking off. " It'll just take a moment then you can tell Ibuki whatever you wanted." He through out a hand to wave at Junko as his back was turned to let her know. 

Junko simply nodded, a look of uncertainty spreads across her face. " You're welcome..." Faintly, Shuichi could hear her mutter 'to have a nice day'. Once he looked behind, gold hues crossed with the electric blue. She moved her hand, as if to say, 'Just scram already'. Shuichi saw the striking blue eyes of Junko as he began to walk away with Hajime, hearing the faint reply that she had given the superior detective. From the look of uncertainty on her face, Shuichi could only assume Hajime’s words about her being unharmed and being so willing to cooperate had impacted more than she had let on. Shuichi didn’t get to glance at her long, her hand directing him to leave. But, that didn’t stop him from flashing her a soft smile of his own and a wave goodbye, just as Hajime did. As Shuichi caught up to his partner, he couldn’t help think about how his view of Junko changed just from that look on her face. 

Hajime pointed out, " Ibuki might be near the snack station, I heard her footsteps, she didn't go far." 

Indeed Ibuki was there, giggling mischievously along with the little hard boiled Saionji, talking about girl things and magazines. She stopped and turned to them with a grand smile, " Oh heya! Sorry, but well you two seemed busy." 

" It's fine. Just answer me these. What were you doing at the time, what did you see, and what did you do?" 

The punk rock girl tilted her head back trying to hold down a thought, " Uhhhh..." She scratched her head before pointing out in victory of obtaining what she was even thinking of. " AHA! Right! I was busy handling the music with Kaede so I didn't see much. I was around back stage working on the speakers and background music while Kaede was playing near the front! This smoggy stuff came out and I kinda got scared, turned around and... Ehe, kinda ran into a metal prop and flopped over. When I woke up, Mister Chief man was stomping all around and being pissed with people in the crowd getting up and stuff." 

Shuichi thought to what Hajime said about Ibuki having extremely good ears, and tried to think of a question that would pertain to that. After a moment of thinking, the navy haired detective looked to Ibuki and asked with a soft and maybe slightly nervous smile on his face as he asked her a question. “ By any chance when you were working on the music, did you hear anything out of the ordinary before the smoke went off? Footsteps where they shouldn’t be? Sounds of power tools? Things popping open? The vents rattling?” Shuichi’s reasoning was that the group had to have found a way in or made a way in to suddenly drop down like that... and maybe Ibuki heard where they were coming from. That would give them a good clue to how they had managed to get into the crowded theater. 

She tilted her head putting a sparkling pink nail and finger to her lip thinking hard, " Hrrrrm... You know what, yeah! There was some rustling on the roof, but I just thought it was the possums or squirrels scurrying about again. The overhead window thingy opened and I thought it was strange, if I were to stall too much, Junko would be furious! Thought it was the nightly raccoon again, it learned how to open that window... But anyways I shrugged it off and then BOOSH! Smoke and then BANG!" Ibuki tilted her head to them again, pushing away a few strands of multicolored hair to reveal a red bump. She then leaned onto the glass counter with her cheerful smile, " Psssssh, But hey I'm fine-thanks for asking. I like to think of it as I'm growing a horn... A unicorn horn!" 

Hajime muttered lightly, " But we didn't ask if you were-A-Anyways." He spoke up 

" She trips over herself all the time, that's why she hardly reacts to anything." Saionji said with a smug look across her face, only to gain a 'huh?' from the oblivious Ibuki who was still thinking about unicorns. " See?" 

" Welp, I must be off to go see what Junko wanted. Away~!" She made a neighing sound before prancing off in ignorance. Shuichi watched as Ibuki had pranced away, still a little taken aback by her whole personality but getting used to it... he hoped. But anyway, the question that he had asked her seemed to pay off. It seemed like they got into the main theater area via the overhead window that could be accessed from the roof. Knowing D.I.C.E. however, there most likely wouldn’t be any piece of incriminating evidence left behind. But at least they knew how they got in now. 

Hajime looked over his notes, ignoring the short blond, " Well there's a girl, Maizono, but she's visiting her old group of friends out of town. So that leaves the two other people who work here-besides Kaede. There's a magician who works here, but when there's a play in the bouts, she goes to preform at the mall, something about not wanting to be competition. So that just leaves Tsumugi, the dresser." He told him, passing by Saionji who was looking at movie times. 

Shuichi looked over at Hajime when he went over the list of people left to talk to, nodding softly in response and following him as he passed by Saionji. “ Okay, sounds good.” He replied, short and sweet before his mind naturally wandered off to thoughts surrounding the testimonies they already had as he walked. 

Hajime nodded, " Hey gremlin where's Tsumugi?" 

" She's on the actual stage, re-purposing the costumes. Jeez you're getting worse at your job for not noticing." Hajime rolled his eyes and set out to the stage where the events went down. 

Upon walking onto it, Hajime looked around for anything left behind, but again like the other cases, nothing was to be found. So instead he called out, " Tsumugi? You here?" 

No reply was heard from the girl in question, which made Shuichi a little bit curious as to what could be going on. He began to walk around the stage, and eventually pulling a bit of the curtain back to look just off stage. Low and behold, there was the glasses wearing girl sorting through what looked to be a metal rack filled with costumes. Shuichi slowly approached her, “ Um...excuse me?” He called out to her. 

“ Hmmm....” She hummed to what seemed like herself, rummaging through the different materials on the rack and feeling the fabric between her fingertips. Shuichi debated whether or not she could actually hear him the first time he said something.... so, for good measure he tapped her on the shoulder. “ Hmmm....” She hummed out again, thinking to herself. 

Thankfully her concentration was soon intruded by Hajime walking over, making sure to be rather loud to draw her attention," Ah, there you are Tsumugi!" Hajime gave a calm smile and walked over with his notebook and pen, ready to be wielded for further writing and notes. " Heh, anyways, sorry for the sudden intrusion. You did a good job on the costumes yesterday, but anyways, don't worry this is just my new partner, Saihara Shuichi. Now, just a few questions if you would. We're just going to ask a few things and we'll be out of your hair." 

Tsumugi paused for a minute through sorting through the hanging costumes before sighing softly and speaking herself quietly to herself. “ They never do seem to go away if I just ignore them....” She then turned around towards the two detectives, glancing over Shuichi once before turning her gaze over towards Hajime. “ Okay, what are the questions then?” She asked. 

Shuichi was the one to pipe up, looking towards the long haired girl and speaking, “ In regards to the incident last night, what were you doing at the time, what did you see, and what did you do?” 

“ Well....” She spoke slightly before trailing off into thought, “ I was mainly backstage a lot trying to fix any last minute costumes and to help with costume changes that happened during the production... I eventually heard a loud boom and smoke started to trail off backstage, so doing what any rational person would do, I hid behind a costume rack. You know what they say, survival of the fittest. I didn’t come out until I was certain all the commotion was cleared.” 

The pen furiously went bobbing as the older detective wrote it all down, " Right... Except you just lied or Junko did. She said that a large guy grabbed you both and tied you up with some type of padded suit. And from what Junko told us, you carried some scissors and were able to snap the rope, is that correct?" He looked up from his notes to watch her confirm his suspicions. 

Tsumugi pushed the brim of her glasses up slightly with a slightly disappointed look on her face, “ Ah, I see my reference flew right over your head yet again... yes, the story that Junko told you was right. You really should keep up with more TV shows, Hajime. That was clearly referencing Detective Ronan... I thought that would be right up your alley too.” She then turned to look at Shuichi, “ Did you at least get it? Maybe a tiny bit?” 

Shuichi glanced off to the side, an embarrassed hue on his cheeks as he mumbled softly, “ Um...well... it’s from Season Two... right?” Tsumugi’s eyes seemed to sparkle slightly, reaching up towards Shuichi and grasping onto his hand tightly and looking him sternly in the eye. 

“ Do you remember what episode it was? The title of the episode?” She asked 

Shuichi looked at her nervously, slightly uncomfortable from her grabbing his hand, “ U-Um... was it... episode 23? And the title was.... was it the ‘Deluxe Lunar Serial Homicide Case’...?” 

Tsumugi looked really happy, gripping onto Shuichi’s hand even tighter. “ Finally! Someone who understands!” 

The other male blankly blinked, looking at her before scratching his cheek, not really knowing the reference that was suddenly announced by the blue haired girl, " Uhhh... That's more of Chiaki's territory-" His sentence came to an irrupt halt as he eyed Shuichi who knew exactly what she was going on about, which made her perk up considerably. In all the time he's been in the town, he had never seen the quiet and reserved girl get into such a delightful tizzy. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to press onto the case instead of a show, " R-Right... Uhm, did you manage to see their mask? I mean, it might not be much, considering they sometimes switch them out. But it's something at the very least. After that, you can go back to your work, okay?" 

The fandom-fanatic glanced over to Hajime who had asked her a question pertaining to the case at hand, a bit disappointed that he would spoil her fun. But, she let go of Shuichi’s hand and sighed while regaining her composure back to the topic at hand. “ Well, considering I was trying to get Junko and myself out of the situation, I wasn’t very focused on their mask. I was more off-put by the metal that was under the assailant’s clothes... I’m almost positive there was something under there that modified their appearance. But anyway, I was also more concerned with getting Junko and myself out of harms way.” 

" Right, thank you Tsumugi for the info, it's not much, but it's better then none. Have a good day okay?" Hajime wished her luck on the costumes and walked out with the other... Well after Tsumugi had talked to the shyer detective about the show she thoroughly enjoyed. 

" Well, the only thing to really do now since we did an investigation yesterday after you left, is to head down to the auto-shop and mayor's office, though that may have to wait since the motor-heads are out today with Taka and it'll take a bit to get in touch with the mayor. I'll need to go find who else was in the play." He said, getting into the car, wiping off the small flakes of snow on his shoulders. 

Once Shuichi had gotten into the car with Hajime, he brushed the stray snow off of his hair before nodding to affirm Hajime’s plan for gathering the rest of the testimonies from the people involved in the incident. “ Do you have any resources you can go to, to find out who else was in the play?” The navy haired detective asked. 

Hajime stretched in his seat, popping a bone here and there's before wiping his tired eyes, " Don't worry about that. I've got ways to find out. You want me to drop ya' off or anything? I really need to get some sleep considering how long I was here last night." He rubbed his sleepy eyes again. 

Shuichi glanced over at how tired and stressed Hajime seemed to be over the whole event, knowing that it had to put some sort of strain on the other detective...but not knowing it would make him look this tired. Shuichi thought for a moment before nodding towards Hajime, a soft smile on his face “ Um... I guess being dropped off back at my place would be nice, thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hanky-Jime is a refrence again to NicoB's LP. Th joke was that whenever people started crying, they'd use Hajime as a tissue.
> 
> Also the whole, 'What?! Dude... What?!' is a line from Dane Cook's Nightmare Crab. One of the more funny and not horrible of his skits.


	22. There Is No Life I Know To Compare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi gets roped into a game of stealing and answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE GAY INTENSIFIES!

The brunette gave a soft smile, it wasn't like he was trying to guilt trip the other, but he desperately needed the sleep from the several events this week, " Thanks for understanding. Don't worry, after I get some rest, I'll be good tomorrow." He took a slow but paced enough drive to the other's home and yawned out as he waved his partner off, " See ya tomorrow." After Hajime had gone his separate way, Shuichi noticed the homely abode was quiet, several notes were placed onto one of the tables as he flicked the bright lights above. One was about how Kaede had dragged Maki off to go do some shopping, picking up groceries, while the other told how Kaito had fixed some dinner in case he wasn't home... Though, seeing as it was Kaito, this meant the dinner was more than likely something from a restaurant. 

Shuichi read over the notes that were placed on the table from his roommates, smiling softly when he saw them and read over them. He guessed the place was empty for the moment then... which meant that Shuichi could maybe get some thinking done. The navy haired detective went straight to his room and got out a pad of post it notes he had kept in a drawer of his desk. He began to write down various pieces of evidence, leads, suspicious, facts, anything that had been trapped in his mind that pertained to D.I.C.E. Soon, the post it notes began to pile up and time began to fly by faster than Shuichi thought it was. 

Since he had been so focused on his notes, it seemed that he had forgotten the possible warning from the mischievous purple haired boy from earlier over their little 'truth or lie' game. He hadn't even heard the window open nor close, " You know, you should really take a break sometimes, right?" The voice came from behind him, it of course belonging to the criminal who was always masked, always pestering, and always slipping away. The voice that Shuichi came to know so well was right behind him. Once his gaze broke from the paperwork, he could see the sly fox masked 'supposed stranger' sitting on his bed. The red eye of malice glowed as they snickered under the voice changer. 

Shuichi jumped slightly when he heard the voice of the masked intruder sitting casually on his bed, almost sending the pen he was holding flying. But, he quickly turned his gaze to look at the person on his bed. His thoughts quickly snapped back to the game he and Kokichi had played earlier, realizing he completely forgot this might happen... after a soft sigh to try and regain his breath, Shuichi put his pen down in the desk and turned his body to face them. “ Well,” Shuichi started to reply casually, “ It’s a little hard to take a break when you’re really interesting, but especially when you go and steal a tiara.” 

They gave a mere shrug, " Oh that? You're still on about that? Upupupu, if you want to blame someone, blame that actress for lending it to us." They got up and examined all the notes Shuichi had been jotting down rapidly, " Hmm. You're always thinking huh? I can tell you don't know how to turn it off. That's okay, neither do I unless I'm forced to~." They said, walking around his cozy room, snatching up a few knick-knacks, quickly backing away from the detective who rather not have any of his things break. The stranger however only startled to skillfully juggle the objects around, " A little bird squealed on you earlier when I was making my rounds. Something about a game. I enjoy games and would like to play one with you~!" 

Shuichi raised a brow at the proposition of a game, not really minding that his stuff was being juggled around as much as the person who was juggling them. He wondered how different playing a game would be with the leader of D.I.C.E. rather than playing a game with Kokichi. He navy haired detective was almost certain that the leader of D.I.C.E. was in fact the purple haired troublemaker and maybe this ‘game’ would help him gather more evidence to prove it. So, Shuichi complied. “ What kind of game would you like to play?” He asked. 

" I wish you could see how much I'm smiling under here Detective, because you may have just made my day~!" They chuckled out, still just focusing on the objects being flung around almost carelessly, but still with a fair amount of concentration. " Not sure what to call it buuut, the gist of it is basically-oh how to explain it..." They stayed quiet momentarily, " Let's say, I answer a question from you, but in return I take something from you~? However there is a limit, no asking for names, identities, location. As for me, I'll limit myself not to steal your life, your skin and blood, or your virginity, how's that sound?" 

Shuichi thought the game over for a few seconds, tapping his chin softly. There could be various loopholes around the parameters that they had set for this game with the questions that he had asked... and Shuichi doubted that they could really take something of great importance from him. He wasn’t very materialistic anyway. After a couple moment of thinking it over, Shuichi looked to the masked intruder and nodded. “ Okay. That sounds fair enough.” 

The other stopped his insistent juggling and put the items back where they had gathered them, slightly impressed the other didn't fluster up from that last part. They clasped their gloved hands and watched him through the eyes of the mask, " Ohh, this'll be fun then~! Don't worry, I only want twelve things. Kind of an insignia logo thing in my group I guess you could say. Two dices have the possibility of landing on a twelve. So, since I'm oh so generous, you may go first." They gave a small bow to him, still watching carefully. 

Shuichi nodded slightly when he was told he could go first, trying to think of a good question to ask, because he knew he would be limited in the number of questions he could ask. It either had to be something to get to know who was under the mask better or to indirectly hint at their identity... after a couple moments of what seemed to be intense thinking, Shuichi looked up at the other person in the room and spoke. “ Outside of your mask and get up, have I spoken to you within the past 12 hours?” 

" Upupupu, clever girl... More than likely, but you do talk to quite a bit of people do you not? It's your job after all. I could simply be someone from the mall passing by saying, 'hi', I could be someone from the theater, who knows." They chuckled a bit. Normally this type of thing would have caused some form of defense like in the past, but they still played it off without worry. " But yes. My turn, I want your taser." 

Shuichi didn’t really mind giving the other his taser... sure people might get mad that he let it get ‘stolen’, but he knew that the masked intruder wouldn’t actually do anything to harm him with it. At least, not while they were playing this game. So, the navy haired detective opened a drawer in his desk and handed them his taser with ease. “ My turn.” He then firmly spoke before asking another question again, “ Outside of being the leader of D.I.C.E., what’s your occupation?” 

The other fiddled with the taser much like the first time the two had met, still going along with the tricky questions, " Entertainer, thief, loiterer, pickpocket, food handler, prankster, dreamer, visionary." They didn't back away nor seemed to be lying oddly enough, only going through loopholes. " Star-gazer, adolescent, orphan, family man, babysitter, child, skater, trouble-maker, day-dreamer, artist, the list goes on. Okay, now I want your phone." Shuichi replayed the list in his mind of everything that the other had just said in response to the question, barely really thinking about how big it was to give his phone to a criminal. He pulled the phone quickly out of his pocket, handing it to them before starting to write down everything the other had said on post it notes. If push came to shove he could just buy a new phone... he rarely even used it anyways. 

" Thaaank you~!" The thief said as they were presented the electronical device that could always make a difference from an emergency if needed. They tinkered with it, pushing some buttons, but it was clear the stranger had no intention on deleting anything or chucking it on the ground, making it impossible to salvage anything from it, " If you don't ask another, I might just take something before you get a chance~" 

After quickly scribbling everything down, the detective put the pen down and quickly tried to think of a question before the person in front of him asked for another item without being asked a question first. He thought for a few seconds before asking “ Other than involvement with D.I.C.E., under your real name, describe your involvement with any other police investigations in any form. Witness, victim, perpetrator, anything?” 

" Wow... Really to the point huh? No build up much. Kind of sad, you must be horrid at foreplay my dear detective." They gave a darkened chuckle or an actual giggle. Yet again it was rather hard to pin-point with the changing voice of the fox mask. " Witness, victim, and perp. Assailant, criminal, hostage, and accomplice. Okay, fork over the badge~." Were they really trying to steal important things from him? But if they were, they'd have asked for the notes right? 

Shuichi was slightly baffled by the number of things that were listed off-and about the foreplay quip, but he’d rather not address that right now, quickly writing them all down before taking his badge out of his pocket and hesitantly handing it over. This... could lead to some major trouble. If they somehow managed to use his badge in the future from sort of crime... it could be Shuichi’s reputation on the line... however, Shuichi tried not to think about it too much and tried to focus on the task at hand. Asking another question. “ Do I owe the person under that mask an all expenses paid outing to Kit’s Pizzeria?” 

They cocked their fox like head to the side, " Hmm? You owe someone a date at Kit's Pizzeria? Upupu-that's adorable and childish!" They gave a howling cackle, slapping the gloved hand onto their knee from the sudden question, questioning it themselves, " Wow, let's hope your not going with kids like some creeper or the police will swarm you before me~!" They put a finger to one of the eyes only to realize they couldn't wipe away a tear from the laughter, " Well aside from that-pttth-ehehe-fucking Kit's?! O-okay, okay, I'm good. H-hehe, I want your winter gear ya have on." 

Shuichi looked at the reaction that he had gotten from his question, trying to find an answer somewhere through all of that laughter but not finding one... the whole reaction was just them laughing about how childish it seemed. He was slightly embarrassed by the reaction he had gotten, trying not to let it show. But, thinking over it again, nothing was said that answered his question. “ I’ll give you the winter gear I have on when you answer my question first.” 

They stopped their burst of laughter, stopping all movement in their body to look over to Shuichi like a creaking old out of order robot, " ... Did that not answer you? I would have assumed that would have answered in a no..." Their voice slowly started to shift in the tone of them not wanting to faff about and boiling into seriousness with the other. " No you don't owe me something idiotically stupid and childish like that. Do you take me for a fool?" They were getting defensive, but more of just bitter and angry at this point. 

Shuichi still found it a bit off-putting, the way that their tone was able to shift from a happy laughter to a dark and bitter venom in their voice. It sent shivers down his spine. But, now that he got the solid answer that he wanted. Even if the answer didn’t completely make sense.... He took off the coat and the scarf he was wearing and handed it to the other in compliance with their demands. Afterwards, he began to think of another question again. “ Even if I ever guess correctly who you are under that mask, will you even ever show me if I’m right?” 

The thief tossed away the clothing they had received onto the floor, still upset and angry before giving out a small huff from under the slender mask, " I would, but you need to realize, I'm not who you think I am. Think of who you hypothesize I am, only... better~." The hell did that mean? " Give me your handcuffs... " They demanded in their serious attitude, coming off as a bit more threatening. 

Shuichi was taken aback in thought by their answer to his question, wondering what they really meant when they had said that. Could it be a multiple personalities thing...? He doubted it, but it could be entirely possible... maybe they felt like a different person with the mask on...? That could be possible. But, Shuichi couldn’t dwell on it too long. He pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket and handed them to the masked intruder before quickly asking his next question, “ Do you know the next action that D.I.C.E. as a group is going to take? Whether it be stealing things or messing with people?” 

They watched his expressions carefully, taking note that they might have tripped the detective up, if only just a small portion. However they didn't gloat on the fact nor seemingly acknowledge it at all. " Not a the moment. The Tiara is worth much more than we've ever gotten. I'd have to collaborate with my left and right hands on the matter. Anyways for now, I want your wallet." 

Shuichi was slightly relived at the response, glad that they didn’t have anything planned at the moment. Other than the personal agenda to mess with him, that is. It would create a lot less work for everyone, especially Hajime.... but anyway. Shuichi focused his attention back to the other person in the room, getting his wallet out of his pocket and handing it to them. ‘For now’...? Does that mean they’ll give it back? He didn’t have time to worry about that now though, he had to think up yet another question. “ During the incident last night, what was the member of your gang that tied up Junko and Tsumugi using to alter their appearance?” 

" Heh... So you found out the padded fat suit as well, clever, very clever. Either that, or for some reason those two bitches threw you both a bone. Then again, guess you two would need all the help you can get by begging to to the theater's owner. Only way to keep up appearance over there." They gave a small chuckle, petering from happy and go-lucky, to angry and fierce, to quiet and coy... " I want your keys." They reached out, extending their arm and flexed their fingers to give a signal to hand them over. 

Shuichi was happy that he had at least gained some kind of confirmation that they had been altering their appearance, that would be something to tell Hajime at least. Shuichi pulled his keys out of his shirt pocket and gave them to the other person in the room while simultaneously asking the next question, “ What are your thoughts on the police?” 

The masked person put the ring on a finger, making it twirl around, slowly getting back into a better mood-much like a kid themselves it would appear, " Useless little things that help every now and then. Kinda like a dog. Loyal but faulty. Yet the temperament of a cat. Though clever but fierce. They are never to be underestimated..." They paused in thought or from the fascination of the keys between their fingers, " I want your stance. Go on and sit down." They told casually, moving a tad to the side from the bed. 

Shuichi hadn’t expected such an insightful answer to his question and also didn’t expect that they would want to take away his stance for some reason...? However, Shuichi did reply and sat down on his bed, glancing over at the masked intruder while trying to think of another question. “ Do you think I fit into your schema of what the police are like?” 

The other started to pace around, finally calming down or calculating something in their mind. They looked over, bringing up a finger, still with the keys on them, making them jangle and clatter, " No. But then again there are a few like you. One, Chiaki, and one, Naegi. But that's about it really. Moving on, I waaaant..." They paused, scanning him over, " Your touch, as in, hands behind the back." 

Shuichi took those names that were mentioned to memory, watching the other pace around the room. The detective then put his hands compliantly behind his back as he was told to do. He then took a few moment before asking another question. “ What do you think of me? As a person, as a detective...?” 

The stranger put a finger to their foxy chin rubbing the slender glove against the pristine mask, " Hrm... As a person, I view you as someone sweet, kind, gentle, good-hearted, easily flustered, and rather shy. As a detective, your appear as a tool of the law, brave, highly intelligent, still kind at heart, a rival, and still somewhat of a mystery. Now what I want to steal is anyone's right to listen to you riiight here~!" They said, leaning over and poking his chest. Before he could react to the odd demand, the intruder hopped up right on his lap and pressed their shrouded head against him. However, that was enough of a distraction to slap the cuffs onto Shuichi's wrists. After that, they didn't wriggle about or anything. and thankfully they were.... Rather light. Almost disturbingly light, like they didn't get enough food. 

Shuichi barely had time to process the answer to the question, let alone when the masked intruder had told him what they wanted and did so many actions his mind couldn't register. The close proximity was too nerve-wracking, uncomfortable, and even embarrassing for Shuichi. Sure they were really light, way too light, but that didn’t really change how close they were. After Shuichi had time to process what just happened, he blinked slightly and spoke “ W-Wait? A-Anyone’s right to listen to me...? What does that mean?” 

They hummed out lightly, still pressing up to Shuichi's chest, bursting into his personal bubble, ignoring all types of red flags and violations at their whim, " Silly, I meant listening to your heart. If I was going to take away the right for someone to hear you, I'd have taken your tongue by now." They wrapped their arms around the baffled navy haired boy and curled up slightly, almost as if a child was to be calmed down by being held or holding onto a precious toy. 

Shuichi had gotten really flustered and embarrassed when they wrapped their arms around him contributing to the fact that they were pressing into his chest. It was hard to think of a question to ask them when his mind was now clouded with embarrassment... was that their goal? To flutter him enough that he couldn’t think straight? It might just be working... Shuichi awkwardly swallowed, trying to clear his throat as well “ Wh... Wh-Why have you been approaching me in particular? I-Instead of anyone else?” 

The intruder sighed softly and tore themselves away from touching the detective who was rightfully in a tizzy, " Because you're different. Originally, I thought you were just another tacky detective, a new toy for me to break." They said grimly, laying their hands on his shoulders to look directly at him. Being this close didn't help one bit with the curved red eye glowing a bright chaotic crimson to indicate they were deathly serious on the matter. Thank the heavens that it didn't last long and the light dimmed itself out, " But you surprised me by being compassionate, reserved, and shy. So that is why you interest me detective." They started to chuckle out, not even fully looking at him at this point until they finally stopped themselves. " What I want next... Is to steal..." They trailed off, making their words more drawn out to confuse Shuichi until they actually put their hands to the mask, moving it up for the detective to see their lips. Though yes, he could have inspected them, he wasn't given the opportunity due to the fact the thief leaned in and gave him a full kiss. Once Shuichi felt the other’s lips pressing against his own, he widened his eyes softly and his face turned a bright red. All the mental cogs that were usually turning in his brain seemed to be shocked enough to stop cranking for the moment. Shuichi was shocked and flustered, but even that was an understatement. Instead of rational thoughts, his mind was overflowing with questions that he didn’t have the mental capacity to answer at the moment. Like ‘Why?’ or ‘What should I do?’, or even ‘Should I kiss them back?’. In the end, it was his body that made the decision first before his mind had any say in the matter. After a few seconds, Shuichi’s eyes fluttered softly as he slowly accepted the kiss rather than trying to resist it. 

The masked intruder was thankful for the mask so that Shuichi couldn't see how truly nervous they were under it, fearing many things and being just as flustered and red tinted as the detective. But they had to play it off and play it cool, or else things would get out of control, and if the controls were given to someone else, they'd be reduced down and on the brink of despair yet again. But once the navy haired boy accepted instead of forcing him off as best he could or flat out rejecting, a wave of immense relief swept over them. It wasn't a terribly long kiss, but not horridly fast, a fair medium as they pulled back. They had to keep their fake face up, chuckling a bit, voice changer masking over the nervous tick in it. " I got to steal a kiss~! Upupup~!" Shuichi looked up at them, his face still a bright red as the other pulled away from the kiss and started to chuckle from it. The detective was so flustered and embarrassed that when he opened his mouth to try and say something or ask something in response, all that came out was a soft voice-cracked squeak. Which, in turn, made the navy haired boy more embarrassed about the whole situation. He quickly shut his mouth and closed his eyes tightly to try and relieve some of the embarrassment he was feeling at the moment, his heart beating a mile a minute. 

Once his eyes were shut, he felt the fox put their arms around him again, except this time, all they did was oddly enough unlock the handcuffs, placing it away along with the ring of keys. Same for everything else they had wanted in the game. They cupped the madly red blushed detective and let out another giggle, " As a treat for being a good sport, I'll let you steal something from me. Just name it~." Another chuckle slid out, challenging him. 

Shuichi looked at the fox masked intruder in front of him, his face still red from the closeness of the other person in the room and as a aftermath from the kiss. However, Shuichi now has\d to strategically think about what he had wanted to steal from them....and whether it would be a personal request or if it would be a logical request... He thought about it for a couple of moment before looking at them, trying to be confident in his his words. His cheeks where still madly red, which contracted with the statement he was about to say, “ Then... I’d like to steal your anonymity.” 

The perp eyed him from behind the mask's eyes, a tad disappointed he hadn't asked for the mask, but also intrigued by his demand instead of one anyone else would have taken. " Heh, clever, clever. Guess you guessed I had a mask under this mask. Anyways, I've told you before. I am The Leader of D.I.C.E. I'm unsure what more you want. Gender perhaps? Male. Previous identity, that one bat-shit crazy kid from the institution, Daisachi. But you've already figured that out. Or would you rather I go by Tajako? Either really." They leaned back clapping in a sarcastic and mildly cocky manner, still embarrassingly on Shuichi's lap. 

Shuichi looked at the person sitting on his lap, now slightly happy that he would name him instead of just calling him ‘the leader of D.I.C.E’ or ‘the intruder that frequently visited him’. The navy haired detective still was a little embarrassed by the other still sitting in his lap, but found he had gotten used to it as one progressed. Now, he was more focused on the answer that he had gotten. “ Previous identity...?” Shuichi thought out loud. “ So that means you go by something different now.” 

" Yes. I go by The Leader of D.I.C.E., silly detective~." Again another chuckle erupted from them, still saying they were the leader. Of course they were, but they kept pointing out that that's what they had referred themselves as and nothing otherwise. Was it really split personality, lying, or an alter ego that shrouded over their true identity from suspecting eyes of the law and people? At the very least they had just admitted to being the 'crazy kid' from the mental institution, but still reveled in being the leader of the organization. 

Shuichi had sighed softly when they said that that’s what they went by, knowing he probably should have expected it. However, this was a major breakthrough... A part of Shuichi had suspected that Kokichi was in fact Daisachi, because of the connections and similarities in descriptions of their past, not to mention the scars... at this point Shuichi really had to wonder if it really was split personalities... but it would be worth a shot to try and pry further. “ Is that what people call you when you’re not wearing your mask as well?” He asked. “ Like your employer, other friends...” 

The other paused, tilting their head, letting the fox's glazed teeth look like a sneer as the carved eye stared directly at him. This was followed by another snicker which slowly increased in intensity until they were back to broken and madman like cackling, " E-Em-Employer?! You think I work under someone when I'm like this-oh, w-wait, wait, you said without the mask! Upupu-silly me! Here I am getting twitter-patted and flabbergasted! Without the mask, people just call me by my name. Though to be fair, that name has no true meaning, I'm merely a husk at that point. Can never truly fit in, just a worthless sack of life with wasted potential." They certainly thought low of themselves which was unlike Kokichi unfortunately. Considering he craved the attention, be it good or bad. 

Shuichi tried to compare their answer to something Kokichi would say, but it just wasn’t fitting in his head. However, he had a really big hunch that he was right. And usually, his hunches weren’t wrong... he would try and keep pressing the matter until he got the answer he wanted, “ What do people call you by then?” 

The other huffed under the smooth porcelain like mask, " People call me a variety of things. Pest, rat, weasel, freak, crybaby, little shit, stalker, kid, idiot, bastard, fucker, dumb-ass, wise-ass, smart-ass. Weakling, bitch, twink, jail-bait, worthless, useless, mistake, thief, annoyance, freak accident... 'People' love those names. And why wouldn't they, right? That's all I am in their eyes after all." The other was still on his toes, avoiding and finding loopholes around Shuichi's questions, knowing their game was over. Though they did leave themselves open, answering him, and most of all freeing Shuichi from the cuffs... But was he the type of person who would take the chance to get the criminal into a false sense of security? An extremely dickish move, or would he just whittle them down? 

Shuichi looked at the thief right in the mask’s eyes, trying to figure out the right wording to get the answer that he wanted. He looked at him, not trying to get anything other than the information he wanted. And he refused to get the information in any way other than asking questions. “ If I, or when I, met you in a normal setting without your mask on when you aren’t being the leader of D.I.C.E, after I came to this town... what name would you introduce yourself?” 

The foxy intruder got out something from one of the various pockets on their belt, getting a small clear plastic cup and surprisingly mouth-wash, from a small glimmering bottle " I've answered enough questions detective, I think this is enough. I haven't stolen anything else from you, so you're really abusing the limit I had given you-hell, I even gave you a decent lead-way. Now, may I get another kiss before I leave? I promise not to steal it this time, or would you rather take this mouth wash now? I can't let you analyze any DNA yet... if you're lucky" 

Shuichi was a little disappointed that he would answer his question, almost certain he was close to getting the answer he wanted... he then blushed when they asked for another kiss, his face getting red again. He opened his mouth to give his reply, not... not really minding if they kissed again... but he didn’t know if he was brave enough to admit it, “ I-I-“ he spoke softly, “ I-I, um...well... I mean.... I-I... I guess...” 

The sly fox stopped himself from snickering at the sudden heat going to Shuichi's cheeks as he tried to sputter out an answer. It wasn't like the stranger wanted to toy with him-okay, maybe a bit, but not in a cruel way of taking advantage. They just enjoyed the detective's company, either from flat out loneliness, wanting comfort, or feeling human again. They lifted their mask up to give another gentle kiss, carefully cupping the navy haired boy's warm cheeks. It made them feel like they weren't what everyone looked at them as. However for the detective, with the mask, it was hard to tell if they were enjoying this or just using him at this point. Shuichi... didn’t even know if he was being taken advantage of at this point in time, but he didn’t really want to consider the possibility. He knew that kissing a criminal like this was probably not morally correct to society, but.. at this moment in time it didn’t feel wrong to the navy haired boy... should it? The gentleness of the other’s lips slightly took away all of the negative thoughts about being used or what others would think... even if the whole circumstance that was happening right now may be considered weird. 

The masked criminal parted away and handed the mouth-wash to him that they had procured, putting into an empty cup Shuichi had used for water, almost fumbling with it, nearly spilling it. From that, it was safe to say they didn't have much experience with using anyone in this suggestive type of way, but instead, possibly as nervous as him. They finally got off and scurried to the window, but didn't leave. They stood there watching Shuichi to make sure he would swish the cleansing liquid around, not willing to get caught do to some sloppy and unneeded make out. Shuichi noticed the actions of the thief, definitely being able to pin down his actions as being nervous. Maybe they were as red as he was under that mask... Shuichi then took the mouth wash, swishing it around in his mouth to cleanse any trace of DNA the other could have left behind. Once he finished swishing it around he spit it back into the cup, then looking back towards the masked intruder that was near the window, looking for approval of sorts. The approval wasn't wondrous as they had already left, the window now shut and the thief gone without noticeable trace, aside from some footprints in the snow outside, which at some point seemed to be wiped away with a stick full of leaves. This was defiantly one of the strangest nights for the detective. He'd have to hope this wouldn't show up in his dreams-that'd be embarrassing! Though only to himself really. Once Shuichi had seen that this intruder had left his room, he put the cup of mouthwash on his desk and then immediately flipped back down on his bed. That... was really draining. He probably shouldn’t continue with what he was doing before they came, because he didn’t think he could really make good connections and thoughts at the moment. First he needed to process everything... while he was thinking over the events of that night, he slowly drifted off to sleep. However, sleeping didn’t make those thoughts about the intruder go away... in fact, it amplified them. 

The next thing Shuichi knew, he was sitting in his room again at his desk, looking over the various post-it notes he had on his desk. A voice seeped from behind him as he soon felt fingers prop themselves onto his right shoulder, one by one, " You really go on and on huh? You don't know how to turn off do you?" Right as the detective swerved his neck to meet the one blackened giddy eye with the crimson scarred one, the thief chuckled out. " You know, I can help with that~." The mask almost looked like it's sly and toothy half stretched ear to ear, just by itself. " You deserve a break from Haiji making you run around like a chicken with no head or a lost little lamb, both of which can be brought down by a fox~. Well then again, it depends on what you are exactly..." 

The navy haired detective looked at the familiar porcelain mask that belonged to the intruder that he frequently saw since his arrival to this town. A break... really did sound nice. Shuichi leaned himself into the fingers propped up on his right shoulder, starting to reply to the figure behind him. “ A break would be nice...” He spoke hesitantly, “ I... I think I feel more like a lost lamb at the moment...” 

" Upupupu, if you feel lost, let me herd you to some fields~." The fox faced stranger took hold of his wrist and hummed out, pulling him along with the utmost care as if the two were had been dating and were relatively use to each other by now, " Come with me and you'll be, in a world a pure imagination. Traveling in the world of my creation." They gave him a small shove onto the bed and placed themselves onto his lap, almost giving off a subtle hint of deja-vu. Shuichi had a red flush on his face when the masked intruder had pulled him along and shoved him onto the bed, willingly following along with whatever they wanted. They propped up the mask to revile their lips and gave a kiss, arms wrapping around his shoulders to pull him in. The overwhelming sense of deja-vu hit him when the other sat on his lap, but especially when the other pressed his lips against his own. Shuichi accepted the kiss, letting himself close his eyes and relax into the feeling. 

The small leader eventually and gradually slipped their tongue into his mouth. This brought another deja-vu experience, except in an uncanny way, like this was different from something they had done, which might have been nervous hands twitching behind him. But this was more confident, and it seemed like they got more brave as their hands came back to undo Shuichi's top, again with no sign of shaky hands. The navy haired detective felt the tongue slip into his mouth, his breath hitching in his throat slightly when he felt it along with the feeling of his shirt becoming undone by confident hands that seemed to know what they were doing. Shuichi’s hands found their way up onto the leader, delicately gripping onto their clothes as the kiss got more heated and intense. The foxed face stranger deepened the kiss once they felt Shuichi's hands slide up and hold onto their straitjacket like uniform. They eventually pulled away to pant lightly from the kiss to get in some breath. Their nimble hands slid away from the detective's skin and to their own checkered bandanna, undoing the careful knots behind their neck. What Shuichi saw next was either appreciated or gave off a warning gnawing in the back of his mind, just to be blocked away from thinking too much about it. Those scars he had seen before matched the culprit's pristine neck. Not too horrible to look at, but not exactly that pleasant for most people. 

When the other had pulled away from the kiss to regain his breath, Shuichi had opened his eyes to look up at them and saw them untying their scarf which brought back memories of what he had seen of their scars... but, he didn’t pay it much mind and didn’t dwell on the topic for too long. The navy haired boy kept his grip on the other’s uniform, his lips parted slightly as he took deep breaths in and out to try and regain some form of breathing pattern again. Hands started to feel up the dazed detective's bare chest, fingers splaying over every inch to stroke. The fox chuckled out, now pulling their mask over again like in the deja-vu feeling Shuichi couldn't shake off, as if it just kept it's hold and clung onto him desperately, nagging at him. Though all of that was numbed away as the masked thief leaned in, delivering kisses over where his neck and shoulder connected, adding a rather sharp nip here and there to keep him wary and not too prone. 

The navy haired boy has closed his eyes softly again with he felt them pressing kisses against his bare skin, the warmth each one left behind making him grip tighter on the other’s clothes and his breath growing hotter and heavier. Whenever there was a nip on his skin, the detective tensed up slightly and let out a quiet and rather embarrassing noise from being caught off guard. The nagging sensation at the back of his mind melted away more and more with each kiss that was delivered, leaving him at the mercy of the thief that was on top of him. The light thief giggled out, hands reaching up to hold up the detective's head as gently and soothingly as possible. One hand that Shuichi was sure was gloved was soon gone, almost vanishing instantly or magically, it was hard to say due to how good he was feeling. The hand lifted the mask up to reveal a familiar face he came to know and yet, still wanted more information on. The grin almost matched their snide mask, showing off their teeth and mischievous lavender eyes. Or well... at the very least one eye, due to the other being a bright red. They let out a soft sigh and rested his forehead with Shuichi's, taking in the full delight of having Shuichi just existing. " My dear mister detective~." Kokichi cooed out, " We both know you know who I am~. But it's time to wake up, nisishishupupu~!" 

Shuichi looked up into the one lavender eye he had come to know, paired with the bright red eye that seemed to stare down into his very being. It... was a little off putting to say the least, seeing the two sides of him mixed together like that. The golden-eyed boy seemed a little confused at first at what Kokichi had told him, mumbling a soft, “ Wake up...?” Then what seemed like a few seconds later, those same golden eyes opened quickly as Shuichi woke up with a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know foxes can take down lambs? Neither did I until I looked it up o.o;


	23. Like Fire, Hellfire, This Fire In My Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't fuckle with Shuckle... I mean Gundham. He may be great at bluffing, but he can also kick your ass. He's very menacing, menacing, menacing.  
> Literally... This chapter is not as epic as the title. It's only because Gundham makes he semi-first debut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Chapter has stupid Anime Bullshit Logic more than likely for only one use, 'cuz it was way to early for something to be reveled... And to deal with Haiji in general...

The detective slowly sat up in his bed, holding onto the bed sheets and looking around the room. He saw from the clock in his room that it was around the time he’d normally wake up in the morning... so it was a dream... Shuichi felt his face heat up in embarrassment, lifting his hands up to his face so he could hide it out of shame. He... He couldn’t believe he had a dream like that! It was completely embarrassing! 

And of course as if on time in some comedic stage of Shuichi's life, came Kaito opening the door to wake him up, " Eyyy! Up and at'em Shui-..." The ever so graceful Kaito stopped once he fully saw Shuichi trying to bury his face into his hands to keep away anyone and anything from seeing how red he was. Kaito blinked for a moment, fairly stunned before a huge grin slipped onto his face, " Ohhh, I know that look. Don't worry buddy, you're fine. But I do want to know, how cute was she?" he clicked his tongue and gave a wink. It was at moments like these Shuichi really wished he could just put his hat on and hide in shame and embarrassment...it was bad enough that he even had the dream, but now Kaito knew exactly what had happened... and assumed it was a girl. 

Shuichi kept his face buried in his hands, his embarrassment only growing with Kaito’s words. Should... should he even tell Kaito about it? No. Definitely not. That would require more explaining than Shuichi had the mental capacity at the moment... so, Shuichi replied softly to Kaito’s question, taking his hands off of his face and avoiding eye contact. “ U-Um... y-yes...? I... I-I guess..? 

Kaito being the friend he was chuckled and walked over to the side of the bed, patting his childhood friend's shoulder with a bright smile, " Aww, don't worry buddy. Not like I'm gonna' tell anyone. I've been the only guy living here with two girls for like ever. Ain't gonna' judge and ain't gonna' pry. Don't worry, but anyways breakfasts done sleep-head." He gave a gentle noogie, pushing his knuckles onto the navy hair and frazzling them a bit before giving a sincere smile and walking out. Shuichi knew that he could count on the guy, Kaito normally only blurted out things that were about himself by accident after all. Like a walking hazard... only to himself however. Shuichi felt a little better when Kaito said he’d keep the whole thing a secret and when he was so supportive about the whole thing... why was he worried so much about it in the first place, Kaito’s a really good friend and wouldn’t do anything super bad about it at all...maybe Shuichi was just still too flustered from having the dream in the first place. Shuichi fixed his hair slightly from having it being ruffled before getting up out of bed and getting ready for that day, at the same time trying to mentally calm himself down before heading downstairs for breakfast. 

Maki however was one who could tell things were amiss, how? Who knows, possibly due to having to keep a keen eye on the children she watched over. She emotionally asked, " Morning Shuichi, you okay? You have a bit of a red smutch on your cheeks." She just plainly asked, not seeing it as a big deal while Kaito gave her a look, opening his mouth and spreading his fingers out as his arms flopped foreword, silently saying, 'Really? Really?!'. She glanced back over, " ... What?" She gave a subtle glare to the taller male. " If this is some type of 'manly secret' you go on about sometimes, I won't intrude, I'm just making sure he doesn't have a fever." 

Maki however was one who could tell things were amiss, how? Who knows, possibly due to having to keep a keen eye on the children she watched over. She emotionally asked, " Morning Shuichi, you okay? You have a bit of a red smutch on your cheeks." She just plainly asked, not seeing it as a big deal while Kaito gave her a look, opening his mouth and spreading his fingers out as his arms flopped foreword, silently saying, 'Really? Really?!'. She glanced back over, " ... What?" She gave a subtle glare to the taller male. " If this is some type of 'manly secret' you go on about sometimes, I won't intrude, I'm just making sure he doesn't have a fever." 

Shuichi was startled at first that Maki new almost right away that something was off, but certainly didn’t think it was impossible that she wouldn’t notice. Shuichi gave the dark haired girl a soft and slightly embarrassed smile to try and reassure her that everything was okay, “Y-Yeah, I’m all okay. No fever or anything.” He sighed and mumbled out softly “Just.... tired from what happened when I got home last night.” He spoke out the truth, thinking that it would be okay if he told his close friends a little about what happened last night. Because he learned that bottling things up really wasn’t healthy at all. 

At that point, Kaede walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face, not knowing what everyone was talking about before she walked in. “Morning!” She exclaimed before looking at Shuichi, raising a brow “Are you okay Shuichi? Your face looks a little red...” 

Kaito sighed out, " Oh my god, gals, gals, he's gonna' be fine, don't worry about it." He rubbed the back of his neck, scratching at the small bit of purple hair that eventually blossomed into his hair. 

Maki for the most part stayed quiet, though again, she out of all three was fairly good at observing and hearing on top of that. Thankfully for Shuichi's sake she didn't bring up the soft muttering but instead focused onto something else that equally worried her. " Shuichi, did you eat last night? I Found what Kaito got you still in the fridge. It's not good for you to be skipping meals. Not like we're trying to fatten you up or anything, nor being that one grandmother who keeps cooking things, just for health reasons." 

Once Maki had mentioned not eating last night, another pang of shame and embarrassment went through his chest. He sighed out softly, looking guiltily off to the side and scratching his cheek softly, “ I’m sorry...I just had a lot on my mind and I had to get to my room quickly to write it down, I was going to eat it afterwards I swear. But I got caught up in something else and just...forgot about it.” 

Kaede puffed her cheeks out softly, walking up to Shuichi and gently slapping him on the backside of his head. “ Excuses, excuses!” She protested looking up at Shuichi with an angry and disappointed look on her face, but a slight edge taken off of it by her cheeks flaring out. “ Just because I’m your friend doesn’t mean I won’t be the bad guy! You should know how important it is to eat, especially after that one ER visit! It doesn’t take a detective to figure out that you have to eat well or else you’ll end up back there.” 

Kaito inhaled sharply, grabbing his drink and sipping it as his eye guilty avoided the sudden puffiness of Kaede's demeanor, not wanting to get into that argument, nope, wasn't going to happen. Maki gave a small sigh before walking over an putting some of the cooked food onto the table's plates. Afterwards she put her hand on the riled up girl's shoulder and spoke calmly, " Kaede, it's okay. It's not like he hasn't eaten in the past few days, I've been keeping an eye." Her red eyes shifted to Shuichi, as if to say, 'Yeah, I watch you too bitch, don't you forget it'. 

Kaede sighed softly, looking over at Maki and seeming to calm down slightly, “ I know... but it’s still not good just to let him off without a little slap on the wrist.” She then looked up at Shuichi and gave him a happy smile, “ No hard feelings, just concerned.” She then went down to the table and sat down at the usual spot she sat down on the mornings. 

Shuichi... didn’t expect Kaede to suddenly pounce on the subject like that, and especially how quickly her mood seemed to change back to usual. But, she was right... he should really prioritize eating regularly over a lot of over things that he thinks are equally important...with that being said, the navy haired detective sat down at the table. Among eating the freshly made batch of food with his dear friends, some thoughts managed to squirm and slither their way into Shuichi's head... Like last night, the perpetrator was so... Light. They were lighter than him-possibly lighter than anyone here, maybe as light and lithe as Saionji. Did they barely eat anything as well? Did they have the problem of hyper-focusing to not eat or out of depression? But besides that, they gave away they were male, leading to Kokichi, but also giving an odd angle that the were 'better' than who he thought they were. Kokichi didn't seem to be the type to have a split personality, if he did, Hajime and others would have warned him... 

But, there was also other possibilities that could lead to the leader of D.I.C.E and Kokichi being one and the same.... for example, what if Kokichi did have a split personality that only came out when the mask and get up was on. Then Hajime and the others wouldn't be able to warn him. What if it was because Kokichi feels like a different person under the mask and that's how the purple haired boy criticizes himself and the things he likes or does. There was also the possibility that the whole things was an act,all of this foundation and evidence placed just to throw Shuichi off track. But, the reactions from both Kokichi and the leader felt too genuine to be just a lie... then there was the aspect about the leader being Daisachi but admitting he wasn't called that anymore. The abuse could have been traumatizing enough to create a split personality and it was highly possible that it did. There was just too may similarities between Kokichi and the leader to go un-ignored, even if there was multiple conflicting pieces of evidence. Shuichi was almost positive he was right, even if some of his evidence didn't make perfect sense or was just a hunch. Now he'd just have to find out a way to try and get either Kokichi or the leader of D.I.C.E to say he was right. Which was probably going to be harder than it seemed... or maybe as hard as it seemed. At this point, Shuichi had eaten about half of what was on his plate and began to scoot pieces of food around on his dish while becoming lost and entranced by his thoughts. 

Kaito was able to snap him out of his thoughts by putting a calm hand onto his shoulder and giving a worried smile, " Hey, the others had to get going, took me a bit to tell Kaede you'd be okay. But once Hajime gets here, you had better eat at least half of what you just got later okay? If not, I'm gonna' hafta' man ya' up!" The worried-ness went to an energetic state as he brushed his knuckles together, giving a confident spunk to is friend. Kaito was always there to be counted on, whether one thought of it, or he made himself it instead. 

It didn't take long until Hajime had pulled into the driveway, idly conversing with Kaito once the door was answered. Shuichi felt really guilty that he was so immersed in his thoughts that he couldn't even say goodbye to his friends before they had to take off... he really did have to stop doing that. By the time Hajime had gotten there, Shuichi had managed to store the half of his meal he didn't eat in the fridge and took a moment to really remember it was there. The longer he thought about it, the more it stayed in his brain. The more it was present there, the more likely he was to eat it when he got home. The navy haired detective then went to the door where Kaito had greeted Hajime, doing the same with a friendly smile on his face. As the two departed from the overly-enthusiastic trainee, Hajime pulled up to the quint family diner, getting out and watching Shuichi continue his thought process from the ride over. " I know that silence.Thinking hard on something I'd take it?" Hajime bubbled through to him much like Kaito, except, he knew the thinking process since he had done that many times before. " What cha' got?" 

Shuichi glanced over at Hajime when he had asked about what he was thinking about, thinking about how much he could actually tell Hajime...the kissing part was definitely out of the picture. Shuichi thinks if he told anyone about that he'd probably die from embarrassment. But what about how Shuichi thinks that Kokichi is the leader of D.I.C.E? Would Hajime just detain Kokichi on the spot and keep him until he admits it...? Hajime wasn't that bad, right? Shuichi internally sighed before looking at Hajime, outside of the diner. This had to be said where Kokichi couldn't hear it. At least, it would be better than way. The navy haired detective got closer to the superior detective, speaking softly but clearly, " The leader dropped by my room last night." 

Hajime's eyes widened, but this time didn't holler out considering the fact that his partner was keeping this quiet and on the down low. His eyes shifted side to side before signaling the other detective to the side of the local restaurant, away from peering eyes from the inside who could easily glance out the windows of the front for any person to look in and vise-versa. Hajime kept a hushed tone, " Shit, what did they want this time?" 

Shuichi looked at Hajime, now having to really come to a decision about how much he really wanted to tell the other detective about what had happened last night, taking a deep breath before organizing his thoughts and beginning to speak. " They wanted to play a game with me...they said that I could ask any question I wanted that wasn't asking for names, identity, or location. In return they would steal something from me. But, at the end of the game they gave everything they took back...and left me with a lot of information. Like...." Shuichi thought for a moment, his tone more hushed now, " That the leader of D.I.C.E is Daisachi." 

" W-Wait... How were able to obtain that information if they said no asking about any identity?" He paused, surrounded by a barrage of thoughts, swirling around and stirring in his own mind. " But... If they are-then... Then that means that they're actually the kid from the HPSL incident-a-and... Haiji was on that case-" He gasped out, " This means Haiji will know who they are, he knew before they were taken in. Oh my god... We're finally going to know..." 

Shuichi looked at Hajime, now worrying that maybe what he said was a little too much...he had to somehow make it so it was harder to obtain or figure out who Daisachi really is...because Shuichi had a good guess it was Kokichi. And who knows what might happen to him if he’s figured out. “W-Well...” Shuichi began “Are you even sure Haiji will talk about that case in full honesty...?” 

Hajime gave a nervous glance, frowning a tad, " I know he hates it being brought up, but if it's to help figure out D.I.C.E, then I think he might not care and instead take full charge over the investigation.I mean, these guys have been around town for two and a half years, and well... Haiji is a bit at his limits with them... Though I do feel fairly bad for the kid, considering what he went through. But then again, they might actually be an asset to the suicide, or possibly even a murderer of the HPSL inci-" Before he could finish his statement, out from around the corner of the building, tucked from the alleyway slinked out a rather tall and slender man in D.I.C.E. attire, with a mask of a rat or weasel. They snuck in quietly and snagged the detective, grabbing hold of the brunette's arm, forcing it behind him and quickly putting a rag over his nose and mouth. It all happen so fast... Just like that Hajime fell limp n their arms as the rat faced fiend slowly looked to Shuichi, " ... You call and I will assure you, you won't find the body..." Their voice modifier gave off a raspy and dark tone. " I am not like the rest. I am The Keeper of Hell's Gates and I'm fine with tossing this one into the bowels of it." 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when Haiji was downed in just a split second, his fight or flight response taking over his entire thought process at the moment. He tried to stay calm enough to provide a rational answer, taking a deep breath before holding his hands up slightly as a form of surrender, “ R-Right, I won’t call anyone...” He spoke, looking up at him, “ I... I guess I said too much, r-right?” 

The taller stranger gave a low growl and dragged Hajime around the corner, " Follow me..." They led him into the small alley which didn't really have a building to make it an alleyway, just more of away from the public eye as they went to the side. They unhanded Hajime and gave a sigh, " Count your blessings detective. This type of chloroform makes you forget things you last learned within twenty minutes. Rather difficult to find and more trouble to make... Any higher of a dose and it's lethal." They started to walk around the detective, scanning him and sizing him up, " What does the leader want with you? You look as if you have no significance. Honestly, why bother?" 

Shuichi was relieved that it would make Hajime forget what the two of them had discussed, but... it was such an awful way to go about it. He felt guilty. But he looked up at the masked stranger in front of him to listen to what he had to say, only to begin looking towards the side out of a slight embarrassment, “ I... I honestly don’t know why they think I’m so special either.” 

The tall stranger gave another look, the scarred eye of the mask glowing a brilliant red, " It's a good thing my duty was called in to be over here. Just in damn time... Tell me detective, do you really think you're the best for this pitiful town that sleeps on lies and the wrong? Is t because we don't attain to your rules. Yes we pilfer, but we give back the costly. In fact, we're about the only crime here. I'd take it, Haiji has not told you of how we've helped in the past... I guess vigilantism is always to be frowned upon. It's what we use to do. We just need to take up the act that we own this desolate town so it won't fall into the wrong hands again, dredging it deep into the abyssal ruins of the underworld..." 

Shuichi listened to the words of the D.I.C.E member, knowing full well what he was talking about. The gang never did anything really bad, other than stealing valuable items, but they would always give them back... The navy haired detective sighed and nodded, “ I know I’m a detective... so I’m always supposed to be on the side of the law, and if someone breaks the law we’re supposed to catch them right away and make them take punishment, but.... the things that the group you belong to are doing isn’t entirely bad, and I understand that. So, that’s why even if I’m almost positive I know who your leader is, I’m not going to make any moves to get him caught or arrested. I just... didn’t think Hajime be able to piece things together so quickly from just the name.” Shuichi sighed, “ So, I know that I’m not the best thing that can help the town and I’m not stating that I am but... I want to try and help and understand what’s going on as best as I can.” 

The stranger looked to the side giving a scoff, relaying what they just heard from the detective, " Tch, how naive. He's a detective, it's is job to connect things with a sudden flow. But alas, mothing major is going on. The only thing this place has going for it, is us. All that is actually present is in the past, skulking away in a Tower of Thorns. If you wish to know the reason behind us, I suggest going to The Palace of Knowledge, The Dungeon of Product, The Path Which Risks Life, The Childish Kingdom of Dreams, and The Gate of Rooms... That is all I'm giving you." They sighed under the mask. " I'm sure you've already been to The Pit of Despair... But most of all, if you get to The Core of Power, ask to proceed into the Tower of Thorns. Just be aware, you cannot change anything, only uncover things..." At this point, the stranger was speaking in cryptic meanings that would let anyone ask, 'the fuck are they going on about?'. 

Shuichi knew that the cryptic message was bound to mean something, so he tired to commit everything to memory so he could find out what these places were and so then he could eventually go find them. Once the message was over, the navy haired detective nodded softly and proceeded to give the D.I.C.E member a small smile. " Thank you for giving me this information. I think it'll really be helpful." He then glanced over to Hajime, who was still out cold, " Um, by the way... how long do you think he'll be out for...? 

"Once the detective had looked up, the stranger was gone without a trace. How the hell did they manage to do that? Hajime on the rebound groaned and sat up rubbing his head, " Ahhh fuck, my head..." He squinted, looking at his new surrounding until his glazed eyes fell onto his partner, " Shuichi? Arg-what happen? Shit-Did someone slip me something? Ugh-All I recall is getting to your house chatting with mister spaceman and here I am." 

Shuichi went over towards Hajime, trying to think of a really good excuse. He didn't want to bring D.I.C.E into it because ultimately it was his own mistake...and the gang doesn't really need more bad stuff on their record. After a few seconds of thinking...the navy haired detective knew what to do. Even....even it it might be a little embarrassing. He looked down at the superior detective, offering his hand to help him up. " U-Um, we're outside the diner. Or, one of the alleys near the diner...you drove us here, and once we got out of the car I...." Shuichi took a deep breath "I told you about....h-how I... seriously,notasajoke,wanttogooutwithKokichia-andthenyou kinda...just...passed out from shock I think...? I brought you back over here and waited until you woke back up..." 

Hajime slowly looked up to his college with one of the most strangest of confused looks contrived on his face, keeping him speechless. He soon got up and blankly blinked before pinching himself and cursing out, " Okay, not a dream... I... I'm not even going to go into what is wrong with that and just say okay. But, as a normal by-standard, I'd say you're a fucking idiot... as your partner, I'm only going to question why. But. as a friend, I'll say good luck." He pinched the ridge of his nose, taking in a deep inhale, " Okay. Well... I wish you... Luck o-or something. How you don't get migraines from him, I will never know." Hajime said, dismissing the notions and conversation entirely, but he wasn't harshly disapproving Shuichi's statement, or judging too much.. 

Shuichi listened to what Hajime had to say on the subject, glad that Hajime really didn't question about his missing memories, but also getting really mixed opinion on what he had supposedly told the superior detective before he had passed out. Sure, Kokichi might not be the best person to get along with sometimes with other people.... but it wasn't like the purple haired boy had done anything wrong either. But, even if Hajime had completely pushed the conversation out of the way entirely, it still sounded like he didn't think Shuichi was completely insane or weird for having those thoughts.... which was good, he guessed. Shuichi put an embarrassed smile on his face, nodding softly before mumbling out a quiet, " Th-Thanks..." He then cleared his throat, " I'll pay for anything you want at the diner this morning. To make up for... making you pass out and fall in the snow." 

As they entered the homely diner, Hajime waved it off, " No, no, it's fine. I should be the one buying you something instead for my inappropriate behavior-" 

And just like that, the purple imp rolled over with a wide grin, " Ooh! Hajime being inappropriate ~?! You best watch yourself buddy, we have children walk by here with hopes and dreams... Though, those are probably already shattered by just looking at your face. If not, then your shirt. I'm sure I've seen a kid see it and start crying. Hmm... Maybe your shirt and Haiji's should go out sometime." 

Hajime let out a frustrated sigh, " Hello Kokichi... Hey Teruteru we're here, usual please and something nice for Shuichi if you don't mind buddy!" Hajime sat at his usual spot only to not hear a response, " T-Teruteru?" 

" Would you calm your tits, he's busy talking to the pest control guy for coming by and taking a quick sweep to make sure there's not rats here. 

Hajime scoffed as his eyes averted to the counter of marble, " Apparently he hasn't noticed you." 

Kokichi gave off a small pout, " Oh you're so funny..." His eyes lit up once they caught sight of the other detective, " Heeey~! Mister Detective~!" 

Shuichi smiled softly at the interaction the two were having before kokichi noticed him and his eyes seemed to light up. This made Shuichi freeze for a second, his heart skipping a beat before he gave off a kind yet embarrassed smile, " H-Hi Kokichi," He spoke before taking his usual seat next to Hajime. There was a faint dust of a blush on his upper cheeks as he looked at the purple haired boy, definitely not being able to shake what happened last night or even the dream he had last night out of his head once he saw the smaller boy. To avoid getting stuck in these embarrassing thoughts, the navy haired detective cleared his throat and asked softly, " H... How's your morning been....?" 

Kokichi being... Well, the little weasel he was squirmed his way past the grumpy brunette and behind the counter. He put his elbows onto the marbled counter, setting his cheeks into his hands and gave his cheeky smile to the slightly tense detective. He leaned in slightly, eyes full of glee as he watched him, " It's been great. I can't help but notice you're more of a stuttering Shinji than you normally are~! What's the special occasion~?" His eyes sparked with energy and a subtle hint of smugness. Hajime at this point would give small glances to the two, not wanting to interfere with Shuichi's plan of asking the imp out. So the brunette quickly snatched up a menu and hid behind it, secretly peeking out every now and then when Shuichi wasn't looking. 

Shuichi widened his eyes when Kokichi had leaned in slightly from the other side of the marbled counter, getting a little more flustered as the purple haired boy got closer. Looking directly into the energetic eyes of the other proved to be really embarrassing for him at the moment. Shuichi glanced off to the side, trying to think of something to tell Kokichi that could either divert off of the subject of how flustered he seemed or to explain why he was that way. " W-Well..." Shuichi stuttered out, " I was going to ask you if... if you'd like to go to the place we had talked about going to earlier, soon... m... maybe even tonight? Would that be okay with you...?" Once he finished his statement, he moved his golden hues back so he was looking into Kokichi's eyes and waited for a response as the nervousness and embarrassment in his chest seemed to rise. 

Kokichi however gave a blank stone cold face of boredom, he pushed himself away from the counter. Did... Did he just get rejected? Before Shuichi could dwell on the possibility, he was met with the waiter turning over and wheeling back to the counter, slamming his palms on the counter, grinning like a mix of a madman and a child. He giggled out, " Nishishi~! Gotcha'! Of course I'll go with you Mister Detective~!" He started to chuckle at the sudden panic induced Shuichi, laughing from the look of rejection, getting a stern glare from Hajime. 

The fellow detective gave off a deathly vibe before spitting out, " You little bastard! Don't toy with people's emotions! Especially when they're trying to be honest and genuine!" 

Kokichi rolled his eyes before tearing up, " I'm so sooooorry~! I mean, it's j-just no ones ever asked me out but when I've asked, they pulled that except they didn't keep their word! Waaaaah!" He cried out only to have Hajime keep the stare on him, making the fake tears fade away. " God, you're such a stick in the mud..." 

Shuichi was taken aback at the moment, the now fading feeling of being rejected and the happiness of being accepted fighting for the current spot in Shuichi's brain currently. But, was what Kokichi said actually true? That people have asked him out before but didn't take their word for it? if so, that really would explain Kokichi's reaction to it... nevertheless, Shuichi put on a smile and looked over towards Hajime, " I-It's okay, no need to be super harsh! I'm okay, really." He said, trying to make things better. Sure, he was a little hurt at the beginning when he first thought he was rejected, but it was just a harmless joke, right...? If anything it made being accepted feel that much better. Shuichi glanced back over towards the purple haired boy with a soft smile on his face, " D... Do you want to meet there? O-Or I can pick you up from someplace if you want...?" 

The energetic and hyped up purple haired boy bounced around, barely able to contain himself from the thought of going out and actually being asked to instead of him asking people and getting shut out for such a question. " Ooh, ooh! You should visit, the last time you came by was all about business, which I will hafta' admit, sucked! Specially since I wasn't even there to see you. Miu, the slut doesn't deserve to be graced by the coppers." Hajime just gave another sigh. However luck changed as the pudgy chef walked out from the kitchen doors with a tall and thin young man with hair that looked like it was made from an ice-cream dispenser, dark with a highlighted streak running up. What was the most notable thing was his earrings, a long flowing purple scarf, bandages like Korekiyo's, and a ghastly scar going down one eye for a grey pupil to counteract his red eye.

Shuichi was happy by how energetic and happy the purple haired boy seemed to be about the whole thing, a little of the happiness that Kokichi was feeling rubbing off on him as well. However, when he saw the familiar chef walk in with a not so familiar stranger, he instantly began to wonder who that person was. Were they the ones checking for rats and such in the diner? Teruteru smiled when he had seen Hajime and Shuichi there, " Ah! I didn't even notice you two comin' in! Pardon me, but I was a little busy ensuring this here establishment was rodent free and such. Which turns out it was! I musta' seen something as a part of my imagination..." The chef then looked to Hajime, " Anyway, can I get your usual started up?" 

Hajime gave a nod and smile, " That'd be nice Teruteru, and uh, get something nice for Shuichi would ya'? I'll pay of course. Also, glad to know this place is clean, even if you didn't see one, it's good to check. Nice to see you Gundham." 

The tall male walked over giving a feint smirk, taking a seat on one of the stools, folding his bandaged arms, pointing a finger up, waggling it, " Ah yes, it has been rather a time has it not Hinata? I must say that my bi-weekly check in on this establishment is clean. Then again, I expect nothing more from a Hanamaru. Which reminds me, may I get a black coffee before I traverse through the cold icy fields of Hell." 

At this point the younger purple haired boy gave an audible groan, " Ohhhh my god, Gundham, it's just snow! Stop making it sound so damn devastating!" 

The purple scared male gave a scoff, " Well I may have some devastating news for you now that I am here. Gonta fell from the metal landing, plummeting into the freezing abyss... again." 

Kokichi's palm slapped his forehead, " Ugggh Gonta, why must you keep falling off the rails! Was it a butterfly?" 

" No. He thought it may have been a scarab..." Kokichi went quiet suddenly as the new man gave him a stern look. 

" U-uhm... H-hey Boss? Can I chat with my buddy real quick, I need to know if Gonta got hurt." Kokichi pleaded with puppy dog eyes and a hopeful face. Shuichi had listened to what this new person, Gundham, was speaking like and acting like... it kind of sounded like the D.I.C.E member from the alley... 'traverse through the cold icy fields of hell'...? That definitely sounded like something they would say. So, was this person actually a member of the gang as well? He also listened to the interaction between him and Kokichi, trying to think if there was any importance behind those words. A friend of theirs fell off a railing while trying to catch a bug? And it wasn't the first time for that matter? 

Teruteru sighed, looking over at the purple haired boy and quickly giving into his puppy dog eyes, " Fine, you can go n' check up on him. Just tell him to stop getting himself hurt over some little bugs? It seems like this happens almost every week now or somethin of the sort... Boy ain't right sometimes. Just come back as quick as you can, you hear?" 

Something in Shuichi's head clicked. If the two really were D.I.C.E members, then they had to learn how to communicate in secret but still yet out in the open without attracting suspicion...could this be some sort of code? If so, it would be best if Shuichi investigated it right away... " C..Can I go with you, Kokichi?" Shuichi hesitantly asked. " It would probably be better than you going off by yourself to go see if he's okay. Plus, I-I'd like to help if I could." 

Kokichi spun around and gave his fiendish grin, " Oh wow and here I thought you were coming over later, wow, you must be even more excited than I am~! Nishishi, then again, who could blame you right? Who wouldn't want to have the pleasure to visit my humble abode." Of course in the back, Hajime coughed into his arm, muttering something. " Oh you know you're just jelly Hajime~! Or do you just try to swing by to visit Komadea?" With that, Hajime had a sudden shudder run down his spine. " That's what I thought. Okay let's get going~!" 

As Gundham waited for the two, he slipped his cellphone out and mashed some buttons quickly and with a bored expression. This actually signaled the apartment users, first having Leon read up the warning.   
nder the mask and that's how the purple haired boy criticizes himself and the things he likes or does. There was also the possibility that the whole things was an act,all of this foundation and evidence placed just to throw Shuichi off track. But, the reactions from both Kokichi and the leader felt too genuine to be just a lie...then then there was the aspect about the leader being Daisachi but admitting he wasn't called that anymore. 

The abuse could have been traumatizing enough to create a split personality and it was highly possible that it did. There was just too may similarities between Kokichi and the leader to go un-ignored, even if there was multiple conflicting pieces of evidence. Shuichi was almost positive he was right, even if some of his evidence didn't make perfect sense or was just a hunch. Now he'd just have to find out a way to try and get either Kokichi or the leader of D.I.C.E to say he was right. Which was probably going to be harder than it seemed...or maybe as hard as it seemed. At this point, Shuichi had eaten about half of what was on his plate and began to scoot pieces of food around on his dish while becoming lost and entranced by his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, side note - I am not not giving Kokichi a split personality. We've got Fukawa for that. The D.I.C.E. Leader is just an alter ego/persona, there's no other side fighting for dominance here. Just letting you know in advance, but as far as anyone else besides D.I.C.E., they don't know.  
> Mainly, Kokichi learned to, 'BETTER HIMSELF'...


	24. I Am A Question To The World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A view of Kokichi's home, kinda...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Did you know that Onikumas are a thing?  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onikuma

This actually did signal the apartment users, first having Leon read up the warning. Leon groaned, " Son of a... Saionji-H-hey! LITTLE SHIT! 

" WHAAAAAAT?!" Saionji screeched out from across the room. 

" Gotta' go let out one of the back up bugs, you know Gonta can't act worth shit." Saionji growled in irritation before putting down a comb she had been using to brush her long locks and waddled angrily to the gentle giant's room to extract an insect. 

A while later, Kokichi practically kicked the door in, " Honey we're home~! And we found another straaaay~!" He emphasized on the word, letting it ring out to Miu who was busy working on god knows what and Saionji waddling around on the gentle giant's back as he watched a children's film starring bugs. 

" Hello Kokichi, Gundham, and... Gonta not know who you are, but welcome home!" The large man smiled softly to Shuichi. For how large he was, he was rather cuddly looking, like a teddy bear. 

Saionji glanced over and frowned bitterly, " Oh it's the twink brigade..." Gundham gave a hardened look, " You heard me jail-bait." She spat out harshly, only to have the tall lanky man walk by and pick her up. She started to flop around in his grasp before he placed her outside, " HEY-" The door closed and was soon locked. 

Kokichi knelt down besides the bug enthusiast, " Ya okay there big guy?" 

" Oh yes, one of my bugs just got loose again. I don't understand how it keeps happening, but I got them!" 

Shuichi had listened that one of Gonta's bugs had indeed gotten loose and probably had to chase after it... so the story that Gundham had shared at the diner must have been true then. Or, they managed to find a way to cover it up in time. But, that was something Shuichi would rather worry about in the future in the present. For now, he tried to pay attention to his not so familiar surroundings and all the people seeming to be there. A few moment later, Miu popped out of a back room with a grin on her face. She went up to the purple haired boy, a smug grin on her face, " So, you finally managed to catch one and bring him back here, huh? When's third base?" This made Shuichi even more embarrassed, hearing Miu's words. His cheeks heated up slightly, causing him to blush out of embarrassment. 

The cheeky imp grinned back, " Don't know, I was hoping to get some pointers from you~!" He snickered out before clapping his hands and outstretching his arms, " Anyways, welcome to my humble abode Mister Detective! You've met a few people. The one over here..." He trailed off, kicking his shoes off and carefully pacing onto the giant's back to work out the kinks he had gotten from falling off the banister outside and into the snow, " Is Gokuhara Gonta. He likes bugs and wouldn't harm one. Same for people." 

The brawny glasses wearing man gave another smile and waved to Shuichi, " Hello, Gonta is glad to meet Kokichi's friend. He talks about you a lot, which is good. Kokichi needs people outside to look after him." 

Shuichi looked up at the tall yet cuddly man, giving him a small smile. It was kind of nice to know that Kokichi talked about him a lot... but he wasn't sure in what context it was in... so maybe he shouldn't just jump to conclusions right away just yet. But, Shuichi introduced himself to the bug loving man that lay in front of him, " It's nice to meet you too. My name's Saihara Shuichi. It... it also makes my happy to hear that he's been talking about me a lot... I think..." 

The red headed male from the other week or so ago walked in with a smirk, " Yeah he won't shut up. Kokichi, if ya' want any kind of base, maybe you should show him your roo-oww!" Gundham had walked over, roughly hitting his elbow into Leon's arm, giving a small glare. 

This however made Gonta tilt his head, " Gonta not know what this base thing is, but Gonta can easily say, Kokichi's room is interesting. It very small, but nice and comfy." Kokichi shrunk his face into his scarf, giving an equal glare to Leon before walking over and getting onto him. This brought in Miu with remarks and Gundham trying to break them apart from the argument. Gonta got up, popping some bones with a loud crack before looking to the squabble and then to Shuichi. " They going to be like that for a moment. Gonta would like to show you some bugs if that is okay." 

Shuichi watched as the group in front of him began to argue, kind of relived that Gonta had invited him to go look at bugs... the navy haired boy didn’t really want to be involved in the big cluster that was happening. He then looked up at Gonta, a pleasant smile on his face. “ Yeah, that would be more than okay. Thanks.” The cheerful brawny man gave a big adorkable smile, grabbing his coat. Even with it on, Shuichi could still see his muscles compressing against the fabric, as if his undershirt didn't help hide it at all. 

Thankfully the large male was rather tender and even opened the door leading to his, Rantaro's, and Kokichi's room with care, considering he was afraid of breaking the handle just by one grab. Inside was a rather large room, one corner down to the souther right had a hammock-which no one knew how Gonta had managed to make it or even stay for that matter, with a tidy area of bugs in containers leading into the closet and an organized book shelf. The one to the upper right of the room had various trinkets from across the globe, a desk, a normal bed, a dresser, and from the very least Shuichi could see, a nail kit. And lastly at the upper left of the room was a makeshift tent with pillows strewn about, many toys and plushies filled the corner, some leading into the tent, a pile of childish drawings clustered together nearby and a small bookcase full of movies. 

Shuichi followed Gonta into the shared bedroom, looking around and naturally inspecting around the room like he had gotten used to for a while. He could place what parts of the room could belong to which people, especially what part of the room seemed to belong to Kokichi. He smiled softly, somehow expecting that the part or the room that belonged to Kokichi would look like that... It was pleasant, really. But, the reason that Shuichi got invited over here was to look at some bugs with Gonta. He walked over to the gentle giant after interpreting the room just from the entrance and followed him closely, even though he didn’t exactly love bugs, he thought seeing them might be a little interesting... 

The lovable bug-lug showed him all kinds, from common to exotic exports. He described how he would watch them in the terrariums and write down tidbits, facts, and trivia of each one, including their habits and daily activates, as well as turning them into a wildlife preserve for the museum if the number grew to large to contain. Eventually he simmered down, just happy to finally tell someone about the insects he maintained. He carefully put a container away and looked to the detective, " So, Gonta was thinking... Kokichi not like anybody going near his side of the room but Rantaro. But, seeing as you are a friend of his, I think you could visit his side. It very small and sad... Gonta always wants to go over and make Kokichi feel better in such a sad corner, but he not budge. I'm sure he no mind because you are friends. And besides that, Gonta should get guest a snack and drink, that is what gentlemen do!" He gave a big ol' smile before walking out to retrieve refreshments for the 'guest'. Seemed like his back was getting back into place. 

Shuichi looked over at Gonta who had walked out of the room, a smile on his face, “ O-Oh! Thanks.” He spoke as Gonta walked out of the room. He was really nice and welcoming... and seeing him exited to talk all about the various bugs he had was pretty heartwarming to say the least. The navy haired detective then glanced over at Kokichi’s corner of the room. He knelled down in front of it, looking at the make shift tent and all of the various toys, stuffed animals, and drawings. It was very child-like, and the tent made it seem cut off from the rest of the room. Isolated, almost. Shuichi wondered if all of the child-like, and even self isolating habits, were stemmed from the trauma that he thought Kokichi had gone through... Shuichi leaned forward to inspect some of the drawings that had been left on the floor, to see what they had on them. This might give him some form of clue. 

Some papers only had scribbles to what kind of looked like abstract D.I.C.E. symbols, but Shuichi might have been focusing into them too much. Others were doodles of childish things like Kokichi with dragons, explosions, panta, pies, playing games. Some settled more of a homely feeling, pictures of his stuffed animals, his roommates, some with other people Shuichi had gotten to know around the quint town. A few detailed into diary entries explaining what he did that day, not fully going into too much detail, some of which included the shy detective himself with drawings scribbled underneath the text. However some pictures seemed to be plagued by images of dark and horror shadows stirring about. This included one of Kokichi in a corner, nearly swaddled in pure black crayon. What was noticeable in the tent that finally caught the golden hued eyes were cut out stars from drawings colored in neon yellow, highlighting the effect to look like a real star. When he shifted to look in more, his leg smacked against a small box of some sort that hid itself, the back facing the tent's wall, poorly hidden by various stuffed animals. Of course when picking it up made that devious looking bear fall from it's spot and land on it's side grinning manically at him, judging him... Or waiting to punish him from the malice it gave off. Shuichi had jumped slightly when the bear had fallen from it’s spot, finding the evil grin sewed onto it’s face making shivers run down his spine. How could a stuffed bear make Shuichi that paranoid just by the look on its ’face'... but anyway. Shuichi had looked towards the small box he had picked up from the next of pillows and comfort, inspecting it for a second before deciding to open it. 

There was some sort of insignia, but was too decayed to make it out. From inside, something smelling of either a decade old gasoline or gun powder wafted through the air. It wasn't as strong as it had been, but the smell was still lingering, trapped behind it's covered compartment. But what was inside was some scrap of clothe behind a thin glass frame, magenta looking like Kaito's jacket, only this one was singed around, making a form that closely resembled the devilish bear's bright red jagged eye. This could be a major clue to D.I.C.E... But what was this fabric? Why did Kokichi even have it? Had he started a fire in the past and liked the design of a victim's coat? Before he could try to connect the pieces, a voice came from behind, " I got that from a falling star..." 

Shuichi’s thoughts halted the moment he had heard the voice from behind, whipping his head around quickly while holding onto the box that contained the scrap of fabric that was being spoken about. The navy haired detective looked up at the other who had come up from behind him, asking softly, “ A... A falling star...?” 

Kokichi looked rather upset, either from Shuichi snooping around or Gonta letting Shuichi explore the room. Either way he folded his arms, giving a bit of a glare, which didn't last long as the normally energetic and cheery boy gritted his teeth and avoided eye contact as he rubbed his arm in shame, " ... All I remember is watching a falling star when I was with my real mom. We were waiting for my dad. Some of his friends visited us and gave her that. I figured dad got a souvenir and was working late, so he gave it to his friends so that they could give to my mom. When mom was sleeping some nurses walked me out of her room and gave me it. Then I went to live with my aunt and uncle..." He almost sounded devoid of any emotion. 

Shuichi listened to Kokichi’s explanation about the fabric, taking note on Kokichi’s lack of emotion. He looked up at the purple haired boy, nodding softly and deciding not to pry any further on the matter. He had already explored around his room, so it would be better not to press the subject vastly further... the navy haired boy nodded softly, putting the lid back on the box gently and handing it towards Kokichi, “ It... It must mean a lot to you then, right?” 

The purple imp took hold of it and held it tightly against his chest, eyes still avoiding any sight besides the ground. He let out a small indescribable noise, " Y-Yeah. It means a lot... Reason my roomies tackled Haiji when he went through our stuff. Be it a warrant or not, he was close to taking it in as evidence along with Monokuma..." he let out a soft sigh, " It's all I got left from my dad. He's probably happier without me. Same for my mom really. They wanted to split up and gave custody to my aunt instead rather than deal with me. Heh, I don't blame them." At this point, yet again, it was hard to determine if he was lying about his parents actually going through with that. 

Shuichi listened to the purple haired boy, nodding softly at his explanation. Sure, it was nearly impossible to tell if it was all a lie... but it was better to treat it as truth and get embarrassed later for believing him than treating it as a lie and looking like a total jerk. Shuichi took a deep breath while trying to think of a good answer to give Kokichi, his brain seeming to run a mile a minute trying to come up with a good reply. But, all that could come out in the end was a simple, “ S... Sorry that happened to you. But, the past is in the past. Think of all the people you might not have known now because something different happened in your past... like meeting your friends and roommates for example.” 

The slightly younger boy put the box away not saying anything and just thinking about what Shuichi had just said, " ..... Would have met them otherwise due to Rantaro looking for people to pitch in money for the apartments. I just wouldn't be living with them and they'd get to visit." He said rather bluntly before getting out of his tent like bed. The purple haired male rubbed under his scarf to feel the scars left behind. " I'm sure she would have taken them in. We could have been like... like a big family and not some ragtag broken one." 

Shuichi looked at Kokichi went out of the tent after the box was put away, also listening to his rather blunt reaction that he had gotten from the other. “ Well...” Shuichi mumbled softly, trying to think of a retort for that, “ Your experiences also made you into the person you are today. If something changes in your past, you interactions with all of them would no doubt be different in someway...” 

" Heh, yeah... Then I could have been a hero like I wanted to be. But things happen." Another sigh was left from him, not wanting to dwell on the past, but the more Shuichi talked made him feel like he needed to keep it in account of everything that made him, 'him'. " I never wanted to be like this." He quietly left the room just as that damn bear fell from it's spot yet again, looking out the tent's curtains of silky blanket to spy on the detective, giddy with ill will. Shuichi watched as Kokichi left the room, noting how down he seemed to be after the whole conversation they had... the detective really hoped he didn’t say anything wrong. He carefully picked up the bear that fell from it's spot, putting it back where it belonged so it hopefully wouldn’t move again... it was actually kind of freaking him out now, moving at what seemed to be just the right moments. 

Once the detective left the stagnant feeling in the room, he was immediately confronted by Gundham and Leon both looking rather un-pleased. The fiery red head stepped forth and poked his chest, with a bit more pressure he could have easily pushed Shuichi down, " Oi! The hell ya' do?! Did ya' just upset Kokichi? I know you're new and all but seriously not cool man-" He was soon interrupted by the purple haired boy, slinging his arms around Leon, practically hopping on him. 

" Reeeelax~! Nothing happened, I just wanted to see if he'd actually fall for such a stupid story! Nishishi~! He didn't upset me, in fact, he fell right into my trap of a lie~! Sorry mister detective, but hardly any of that was true, nishishi~! Pretty convincing wasn't it~?!" He grinned widely, snickering under his breath. 

Shuichi was intimidated by the two that had approached him angrily, and was really relived that Kokichi had came to his rescue on the front. But... was what Kokichi really said to him a lie? It seemed to upset him enough and his voice sounded so earnest that it really didn’t make it seem like a lie at all... but, Shuichi had no other option but playing along right now. Or else he might face the wrath of the two that had approached him moments ago. Shuichi gave a nervous smile to Kokichi, scratching the back of his head, “ U-Uh, Yeah! It was pretty convincing!” 

" Nishishi, can't believe you fell for that shtick. I got that thing from a burnt down building that killed my brother. Parents asked why I wasn't the one who died and convinced them I was actually my brother. But soon they found out and left me." His tone decreased instantly, " It belonged to my bro..." Then pure enjoyment wrapped back up by his side, " But it's all in the past~!" 

Leon folded his arms and sighed out, " When you come but to tell the truth, you really come full out huh?" Gundham simply nodded, acknowledging the subtle eye twitch as Kokichi pranced around explaining his story. Was this a lie the roommates came to know? Or was this the truth? 

Shuichi remembered the conversation that the two had shared earlier about the fabric, taking note than then the purple haired boy didn't seem completely fond of the answer that 'the past was in the past' yet seemingly used it openly now. And the way Kokichi changed from the depressed tone to the happy go lucky boy he knew just seemed to unnatural. Before when they had talked about it, Kokichi seemed pretty upset from talking about it, so much so that Gundham and Leon were going to beat him up over making the smaller boy upset... the story this time around just seemed really fake to the navy haired detective, though he really didn't understand why... maybe he would ask Kokichi about it, or confront him about it, later. 

The panta lover kicked around idelly at the air before looking to the detective, " So, mister detective? Do you have to go now? Orrrr, ya' gonna' try to get me off work~?" His mischievous grin followed suit as Leon got ready for his work, muttering something about Ryoma and a tennis racket. " Or you have anything to go investigate or report back to the Haijis?" He asked, walking around him as the other two split up and the taller male opening the door to release in a cold and bitter Saionji... who didn't look cold, mostly playing it up as she scurried off to another apartment. 

Shuichi thought for a moment about what he had to do for the day, and it was most likely revolving around gathering more testimonies from people who were at the show when the tiara was stolen... but Shuichi didn't know when Hajime wanted him back at, or even where to meet him. Shuichi looked over to the purple haired boy and answered honestly, " Well, I'm not really sure if I should be reporting back to Hajime or not. I can probably give him a call and ask though, if I could just have a second." The navy haired boy gave of a soft and kind smile before pulling his cellphone out of his pocket and starting to look for Hajime's contact. 

The shorter boy nodded, " Sure, sure, take your time mister detective~!" 

Once the numbers were dialed, Hajime picked the phone up, still sounding rather drugged, trying to wave off the small wary side effects of the chemical that had knocked him out, " Hrm.. Hello-Oh, hey Shuichi what's going on?" He rubbed his temple, signaling the chef to give him more ice in an already bag of water. He had seemed normal when he woke up, but the effects must have triggered soon after, or he was hiding it from Kokichi so he wouldn't have a train wreck of a migraine today. 

Shuichi heard Hajime on the other line, noting how horrible he had sounded at the moment. His mind immediately though of the drug that was used on him, now feeling slightly guilty. This was probably a bad side effect of it. While the chef had scurried back into the kitchen to grab Hajime some more ice for his pain, Shuichi had spoken in a seemingly delicate tone. “ You... you don’t sound very good.” He stated, “ Do we have anything substantial to do today? If not, I really think you should try and go get some rest... you sound really out of it.” 

Hajime groaned over the phone, " Think I might be catching a cold. Screw it, I'm calling for the day. Fuck Haiji, if he gets onto me about it. Sides with how badly my head is at the moment, I'm in no position to go driving. We'll continue investigation tomorrow, to hell with it if I can't even focus properly." He gave a tire sigh before putting the freshly packed ice onto his head. " Had to stick it out so Kokichi wouldn't suspect anything. Sorry for dropping ya' on the ball over there, if you need help I can speed dial Taka and Kiibo." 

Shuichi quickly replied to the superior detective “ O-Oh no, it’s fine! You just get some rest and worry about yourself, I’ll be just fine. If for some reason anything happens I’ll let you know right away. Oh! And, would you mind putting Teruteru on the phone for just a few seconds? It should only take a moment really.” 

" You had better, you're my responsibility. A-Anyways here's Teruteru." He replied, handing the phone to the pudgy chef, not really questioning why due to his head being a buzz. 

Teruteru looked skeptically at the phone that was handed to him, and answered it a usual tone, “ Hello there?” He asked. 

The navy haired boy nervously greeted him through the phone, “ A-Ah! Hi! This is Shuichi, and I was wondering... well... if Kokichi could have the rest of the day off? He’s too stubborn to admit it, but I can clearly tell that he’s really stressed and overworked about something at the moment...” 

Teruteru sighed, putting a hand on his hip as he held the phone against his ear. “ Now, that’s a predicament...” He thought to himself for a moment before replying, “ Well, if it takes a detective to point it out... we’re not usually busy today anyway. Tell ‘em to try and relax, so when he comes back for his shift tomorrow he’s outta’ that spunk.” 

Shuichi smiled brightly on the other side of the phone, the smile being able to be heard through the way he spoke “ Th... Thank you! I’ll tell him! Y-You can hand the phone back to Hajime now. H-Have a good day.” 

“ And a fine day to you!” Teruteru replied before handing the phone back over to the suffering superior detective. 

The detective who was keeping his head out of the foggy corners of his mind picked the phone back up hearing the reply Shuichi left, " M'kay, Shuichi. Remember, be careful. He might look and act like just an annoying pest, but I've never trusted him. Still don't, so if something goes wrong, I had better not be there to tell you I told you so." With that he hung up and laid his head on the counter, the side effects trailing around him and fully going into effect. Something the masked stranger hadn't mentioned, probably due to it seeming like a harmful action, thus arresetment right then and there and then going into resisting arrestment. The sly purple haired boy looked over from behind a couch with the fearsome blonde, watching like twin raccoons, examining Shuichi handle things over the phone. 

Shuichi put his phone away into his pocket when Hajime had hung up, a pleased smile on his face. The navy haired detective already knew to be careful...but that didn’t mean he couldn’t lower his guard a little bit. He looked over towards the purple haired boy who was looking at him along with the small blonde haired girl at his side. “ Hajime too sick to work today, so I’ve gotten the day off. A-And Kokichi, Teruteru said you could have the day off too.” 

Kokichi popped his head out from behind the couch and tilted it ever so slightly, " Oh whoa, what's this?" 

Saionji only gave a sharp glare to the slightly taller boy, " Never say that again or your tent will be burned down." 

The other only snickered in response before giving her a challenging look, " Do it and I'll shave your head while you sleep..." Saionji's glare hardened, imitation not getting to her. " Oh, well in that case Saionji, I suggest you sleep with one eye open~." 

The 'grown up' there gave a glance. Gundham who had been reading a book wrapped in... bandages? Was that thing leather? And painted black...? Anyways, he spoke, " Kokichi, what have I told you about making threats that we know that we can't keep?" 

" Oh, no, Gudham. I will keep it." 

The Gothic male nodded, " Hmm, well, you heard it Saionji, one eye open." So much for being the 'adult' in the situation... What a great parent. 

Shuichi blinked his eyes slightly at the sudden intense exchange between the three of them, a nervous smile on his face as he let out an awkward laugh to try and give himself some relief from the situation. “ A-Anyways...” the navy haired boy mumbled softly, “ W... Would you like to go out and do something, Kokichi...? S-Since we have the day off!” 

The small brat wrapped in orange bounced in place, " Let's get ice-cream!" She was quickly covered by the diner apron Kokichi quickly slipped off. 

" You're not going anywhere munchkin. He asked me and sides, no one in their right mind would take you somewhere." 

The vicious blonde threw the red apron off and gave a snarl, " Miss Mahiru would!" 

Kokichi in response pinched her cheek, pulling t a bit, as if letting her acknowledge as if he were an alpha of a pack f animals, " I said 'in their right mind'. She's a tabloid journalist who constantly looks for scoops." He let go as she whined, rubbing her cheek and pretending to have tears bubble up in her eyes, " Ah, ah, ah, not gonna' work. I taught you that~." Her expression faded to nothing but anger, knowing she couldn't do anything back at him. " Okay, see ya' guys later. Let Rantaro know I'm out. Tell Hiro I'll try to pick something up to eat. Gonta, stay. And keep an eye on Miu whoring herself~!" He called out as he refitted his shoes, shifting his arms behind his back and promptly walking out the door. Shuichi watched as the smaller purple haired boy quickly dismissed Saionji in her attempts to follow with, and how he had said goodbye to his fellow roommates who weren’t even in the room at the moment. He then quickly followed Kokichi as he walked out the door, slightly stumbling to catch up with him. 

When he was outside the door, the little mischievous vandal was already own the flight of stairs... How did-Oh wait... The cold railing ad snow shoveled off and left small piles of the white frost about. He had slid down... But another question was how many people did he live with really? Saionji should have been freezing when she wobbled back in, but was still content on how she was. Then came the factor of the box and-urgh, it was all over the place when dealing with the shorter male... Shuichi at this point decided it would be better to think or ask about these things later in the day. For now, he just needed to catch up with the purple haired boy that had slid his way down the stairs. The detective quickly made his way down the flight of stairs, attempting to catch up with him. 

A chuckle rose from the slightly younger boy, " Nishishi, oh hey there ya' are. Almost thought something super horrible had happened to ya', but I guess not. Shame really. Oh well, looks like I'll hafta' spend time with you~!" It was a crude joke, but that was just his way of mindless banter from what Shuichi had gathered. He walked through the snow, passing small stores and tourist areas, including passing by a large and luxurious mansion on a hill, over looking part of the town across the street. It gave off a rather foreboding vibe as thorned ivy slithered around near the front gates, acting like barbed wire. 

Shuichi followed the smaller boy through the snow, glancing up at the luxurious mansion that they passed by that sat on the hill and paused for a moment to look at it. There seemed to be an awful lot of vines and thorns on it. Wait a minute... thorns? His mind went back to the conversation that he had with the D.I.C.E member earlier today and recalled they said something about a ‘Tower of Thorns’. Could this be what was meant...? Shuichi stopped walking for a second, calling out to Kokichi softly, “ Hey, Kokichi? Do you know who lives there?” 

Kokichi glanced over with a bored expression, " Huh? That old dingy place? That's Mister Ebeneezer's house, he runs a factory, yadda', yadda'. Guy acts like a saint but he's just an old geezery asshole. Some people say he killed his wife... That's a lie obviously~! People know the lady he was gonna' marry was killed by her psycho ass son. Rumor has it he got out, ran off, joined the circus and left and now he's a cryptid 'cuz people in the west believe in The Scrape. Maybe he went feral, maybe he's a person like you and me, maybe he has a new family. Or maybe he gave half of his soul to a demon named, The Onikuma who then showered him with a purpose again." He continued to walk, completely uninterested in the manor that peeked over. 

Shuichi listened to Kokichi’s explanation of who actually lived in the mansion, also taking thorough note about the rumors regarding the son and where he might be now and what had happened in the past. Shuichi felt this would be really important to eventually understand. But, since Kokichi seemed to show no interest he couldn’t stop to think for long. He followed the purple haired boy quickly after the explanation, knowing he’ll have to think on it more later. Kokichi continued, " It's best to just ignore the place. Only people who give a shit about some kid going to the loony bin would be the police and doctors... Hrm, guess that makes you one of the cases. Have fun with that boring piece of trash. Ah finally here we are~!" He said, pure joy plastered on his face as he hopped up and landed in the same spot, making bits of powdery snow fly about. Shuichi had been led to a rather large building-good god, the place was nearly the size of a small mini-mall from the size of it. Outside in neon letters read Kit's, tagging along side with a painted mascot of a vibrant purple fox, cheering for people to come in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Kokichi made the OwO what's this?  
> And the whole 'One eye open' is from Most Popular Girls in School  
> ... And yes Gundham has a leather-bound book of darkness, who doesn't?


	25. For Many Years I've Been All Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FNAF anyone? However no murderous robots and security is TIGHT...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Another OC of mine. She is the Ultimate Mascot, and is inspired by Kokichi, but mainly based off of Mae from Night In The Woods. She's kind of a blend of those two in a way, but still has her own attitude, looks, and personality. Her costume is a wolf named Gabu; a shout-out to the wolf from Arashi no Yoru ni/One Stormy Night

As the two passed through glowing sliding doors, the smell of pizza and other food filled the air. Not as good as the quint Hanamaru diner, but not the worst around. Inside were sections split off and around a large area of tables with screens on them to play a friendly movie. Sections had certain statues of animals, each colored with an obnoxious coloring they were suppose to have. The statues looked animatronic but actually weren't, in the hustle and bustle of children and adults. Sections were made up of a small gym, daycare for young kids, a prize corner, kitchen to order up food, a place to play games, typical things... Then there were some areas more noting. The large jungle gym with tubes in and out, ball pits, all collaborated into one, outstretching to the ceiling to view down upon folks like ants. The next was a tall pole smack dab in the center that led to an animatronic like owl, fixated on spinning it's head 360 degrees, bolted there to watch over everything below it's gaze. One was a large ominous steel door near the back... A small curtain near the stage, and at last the small stage itself which held three movable animatronic mascots, playing music, mindless banter, and what not. What stuck out the most of the stage was some sort of device along side the walls... Like motion detectors... Shuichi took in the whole atmosphere of the pizzeria, following the purple haired boy wherever he walked.After a quick look around a lady with the largest spiraled pigtails walked over. She looked rather pale, crimson eyes, a small scowl, and defiantly took time to get the goth lolita bit down. She sighed, " Kokichi... You're not here to break in and sleep in the tubes again are you?" 

The purple haired boy smirked, " Mmm, depends, you running that underground poker games~?" 

She gave a plane expression, almost as still as Maki's and Kirigiri's, " Ha, ha... I'm laughing so hard... Whose your babysitter?" 

" This is my new friend, Saihara Shuichi... A detective~." 

The woman's eyes slowly shifted right to left, her poker face still held up before scanning him, " I see. You're aware that he's a notorious pathological liar right?" 

The detective then looked at the Gothic girl that had started the conversation with Kokichi, a nervous smile on his face as he was introduced to her and when she had asked him the question. “ Y... Yeah..” Shuichi muttered out softly, “ I’m definitely aware of that... doesn’t really change anything though.” 

The woman looked him up and down, her permanent frown, un-moving, " Hmm... If this is about that dumb ass gang, this was here long before they came around. I assure you that they copied the filthy mangy things to hide their faces like Kit the fox, Wooly the lamb, Owen the owl, and so on... Considering you guys are too stubborn for a bribe." 

Kokichi rolled his eyes, " He's not here for thaaaat! Unless he's using me... Hmm, you using me mister detective~?" He asked in a smug manner before blowing it off as a joke, " Ahaha! I kid, I kid! I'm not like this hussy whose dating the chubby nerd that works at the anime and manga store at the mall, right Celes? Or are you just using him~?" 

Said woman, Celes' eye twitched ever so slightly and quickly for that matter, " ... He makes good coffee unlike that bagel loving white haired freak!" Her snappish attitude quickly dissipated, " If you're here on business, Yuta, Masuki, and Nekomaru are in the back doors. If you're here as a customer, no refunds, no bribery, no interrogating, no arrestment unless it's a pedophile or and abusive parent, typical illegal stuff. If that's all or if you're not a customer, you can kindly fuck off and tell Haiji to shove it up his ass..." With that, she daintily walked off, still emotionless. 

Kokichi put his arms behind his head and grinned, " Delightful manager ain't she~?" 

Shuichi blinked softly as she had walked off with that last comment, processing the whole conversation that had just happened and taking note on how D.I.C.E.’s masks imitated the characters from here. The navy haired detective then turned towards Kokichi, realizing he should probably reply to him quickly. Shuichi nodded, giving him a nervous smile before muttering a soft, “ Y-Yeah...” 

Kokichi on the other hand was perfectly happy, not batting an eye at the Gothic manager who somehow owned this establishment. How did such a gloomy cloud like her manage to run such a cheery and carefree place meant for children? Anyways, Kokichi had went to the kitchen area, letting a worker there who was use to the sight of the mischievous male wave over. Kokichi explained that Shuichi was a friend who was paying this time around. As the two-or well, one payed, Shuichi's peripheral vision caught sight of a magenta colored shark statue. Thank god the thing wasn't a functional animatronic... The thing's teeth looked razor sharp, though probably just for effect and not actually dangerous. It had the animatronic vibe, looking like one, but it didn't move, it's eyes unblinking, above such a large razor grin full of needles. Kokichi managed to drag Shuichi out of his thoughts out as he got a placeholder for their table, taking it to a table the two could enjoy. The animatronics on stage didn't move stiffly, but rather erratic yet on sync. Judging how a town that made Kiibo, this was to be expected. On stage stood a purple fox with a mic, a chrome colored rat or weasel thing with a guitar, and a blue bat with a DJ set. All three moved freely in one spot, eyes blinking and roaming around, watching the children and crowd around them... Hell they weren't even bulky, broken down, or have any old fake fur... " Thanks for taking me out~! I love this place. Makes me feel like a kid again..." He sighed happily, " I know everything here like the back of my hand, history included~!" He winked with a grin. 

Shuichi’s eyes and thoughts were pulled away from the off-putting animatronics as Kokichi had thanked him and talked to him, giving the other a genuine happy smile when he was thanked followed by a very light blush on his cheeks. He then replied to him, “ Y-You’re welcome. And... history? So you know the complete history of this place?” 

He nodded, " Yuppers~! Nishishi. Celes inherited from her uncle, good place to gamble when no ones around... That's a lie. Anyways, my previous mom use to take me here on my birthdays and other occasions. Use to be called Kuma's due to an old white bear being the main character. It use to be on stage with Kit. But an accident happen and well a kid's head was gone... nishishi~! That's a lie for the ages~! It broke down long ago, but kids enjoyed Kit, so they just replaced him and built more and more, adding more characters, but were only able to make two more full functional animatronics. More characters means more merch over the years, but they still sell Kumas. Miu and some really girly guy girl guy managed to set up the security and animatronics around here. I think even girly man's cousin and brothers got to help. I remember my roommate Kazuichi even pitched in when he heard those two grease balls wanted to work on them. Tons of cameras are scattered around the place. In fact, that owl on the post is a back up camera, and those motion sensors are to make sure no kids get their hands torn off." Speaking of which, a small child had waddled their way to the stage, passing the large sensors. before they could climb up the stage, a flash and blur of someone went right past Shuichi's view. A person in a security uniform snatched the toddler up and handed them back to parents that had lost track of him. The guard was the young boy Shuichi had met at the ice skating, Yuta. " Security is super strict ever since rumors popped up around in America. They even got a mascot here whose head and body actually scan the person who put it on. Aside from it being really small, the collars in the two neck joints are made of strong material with superb electronics. If anyone gets in that isn't that worker, it tazzes them and notifies security along with police. Ya' know, to make sure there's no crazy murderer or pedo on the loose. That's Miu's inventions for you." 

Shuichi was actually pretty amazed by the high level of security that went into a child’s pizzeria, and noting how many people actually took part in the project. He was also impressed with how much Kokichi knew about the whole thing. “ Well... this place has a really secure security system then. And the machines behind the security are also very clever too.” He smiled softly, “ You also seem to know a lot about the whole operation too. You must really enjoy being here.” 

Kokichi leaned back taking in the atmosphere of what most people would just assume as a shitty pizzeria that only entertained children, like people dangling keys in front of a baby. But he seemed to cherish the place. In his eyes the place was still a part of being magical somehow. He spoke with a smile, noting it wasn't his cocky grin, " Yeah... People who work here don't typically hate it, security seems fine with it, mascot loves it like I do. This place seems like the only innocence of the kid I use to be..." He gave a soft sigh, admiring the building, ignoring teenagers who were dragged here and made fun of him, some adults hating the place, obnoxious children... Though that was more of the tourists while people in town relatively enjoyed the place, not seeing it as some type of cash grab but having value. Before long a short white wolf costumed person walked over with their food. The eyes were huge with pie shaped pupils, large fabric fangs, blue overalls, plush fake faux fur that was regularly taken well care of, and a big smile with a tongue poking out of a grand yipping smile. " Heeeey Masuki~!" 

The white wolf put the food down and spoke out with a slightly high pitched girl's voice, " Heeeey Kokichi~! haven't seen ya' in a bit! Huh? Whose the twinky?" 

" This is my friend, Saihara Shuichi." He snickered, not even refraining from what the small girl had just called Shuichi. 

Shuichi blinked softly, being pulled out from the trance-like state he was in from thinking about how natural and nice Kokichi’s smile looked when there wasn’t any malice or trouble making intent behind it. The immediate nickname he was given from the person he had just met had thrown him off, a blush tilting his cheeks from Kokichi’s snickering. “ I-It’s nice to meet you,” He spoke softly, an awkward smile on his face. 

The short girl gave the detective a hand shake with her... giant cartoon gloved hand, plush and soft to touch, but still having an actual hand under it for a good grip. " I'll talk to ya' at break time Kokichi. Celes warned us some fancy-shmancy detective visiting and she's alllll over the damn place about it. Hopefully she has a conniption. That'd be hilarious. Anyways, enjoy and remember~!" She put the gloved paws to the sides of pink cheery cheeks of the mask while making a goofy voice, " Be happy~! Cuz' it's nice to feel happy. Don't make me hug ya' haha!" She went out of her merry tone to one that was hiding underneath, " Oh right! Cause any problems or make fun of my living profession here and I'll have a bat with your face waiting for you outside~!" She gave off big blown kisses from the mask and pranced off to some children who awaited for her, playing with them. 

Shuichi didn’t really know what to say for the few moments after she had left, just blinking softly before clearing his throat softly and looking towards Kokichi. “ I didn’t suspect that me being here would cause such an uproar or something like that... I guess that’s a downside of being a detective. Anyway, who was that? Her name was Masuki, if I heard it right?” 

The slightly younger boy began to eat what he had ordered, nothing too thrilling nor special, nodding, " Kotton Masuki. Use to be the mascot in high-school. Suffers from de-realization. Wears a little bandit mask that keeps her secure and focused. Without it she begins breaking down with dissociating and suddenly all she sees are shapes. Helps restrain her. Beat the shit out of a bully once with a wooden bat. Her friend whose constantly on the move comes by every other week to be with her for a bit. Guy and his dad go around the world, training, exploring, helping people, shit like that. Guy is a bit bigger than Gonta, imagine that." Kokichi... For all the devious activity, really knew his research on people... " Anyways, not your problem. Lots of people poke fun 'cuz it's a gig to entertain children, she gets aggressive when her friend isn't around. And besides that, Haiji's been dogging around this place, putting Celes through hell and back." 

Shuichi nodded softly from all of the information he had gotten from Kokichi, definitely surprised to know that the smaller boy seemed to have a lot of information on various different people in this town. Shuichi didn't know if he should admire it or be wary of it. Shuichi had moved the food around that he had ordered, seeming way too invested in the conversation at the moment to really notice what he was doing with his food. " Well... Haiji isn't exactly the best when it comes to being a detective, that's for sure... I'm assuming he was digging around here because of the correlation between D.I.C.E.'s masks and the characters that are used here. sure, there might be a connection. In fact there probably is... but I'd assume that he couldn't figure it out without more information so that's why he kept poking around and pestering this place..." Shuichi sighed, a nervous smile on his face, " I hope Celeste doesn't hate me because of what Haiji did. But I assume it's like that for a lot of people" 

The purple haired boy shrugged as he enjoyed his food, in fact is was probably the most Shuichi had seen him eat... Compared to the thief last night, Kokichi was a prime suspect for height and structure. He looked far too light for his own short stature as well. Again warning buzzes went off in Shuichi's head. Not wanting to jump to concussions, but at this point, he was pretty damn sure Kokichi was the masked leader. " Ehh, only a childish idiot would dress up as these characters and make some weird gang. Haiji hasn't been a detective for years. Don't believe he was anyway. Police yes, detective not so much. Private Eye, maybe? I don't know or care for that matter. Celes just doesn't like most people in general. Never did in high school, still doesn't. Tough, she enjoys people's money... You know if you don't eat, you'll waste food. Unless... The food is too good for you or you don't deserve it..." Food too good for him? Wasn't it usually the other way around? 

Shuichi was a little confused at the way that the purple haired boy had worded the sentence, but knew that he should probably eat instead of getting lost in his thoughts again. Maybe... that was Kokichi’s way of saying that the food here was really good? Maybe it was his favorite? Judging by the smaller boy’s apparent light weight and how much he was eating, the detective could only assume that he really enjoyed the food here. Shuichi smiled at the comment. “ Guess I won’t waste it then.” The detective then began to eat the food he had ordered, finding it to be... pretty okay. He then looked to Kokichi again and asked, “ I’m guessing you like the food here?” 

The other shrugged lightly, " Not the best, not the worst. It just fills me with nostalgia. Use to love it, but that might have been only due to my mom being with me. After she passed I didn't come around here for a while. When I did, it wasn't the same. But eh, pizza is pizza as long as it's not the worst. Heh, me and Masuki even made a chart on it." Kokichi talked rather nonchalantly like he normally did, but this conversation was hinted with a bit of depression. It still didn't explain the malnutrition, but hey Shuichi had a problem in that department as well, who was he to judge right? 

Shuichi nodded softly towards the other sitting in front of him, listening diligently to all of his opinions and the tone of his voice so he could find out more about him. The detective was also surprised that Kokichi seemed to be... pretty open about the topic. Should... Should he be open about other things like that as well? It would be the polite thing to do, right? Glancing off to the side, Shuichi nervously spoke, “ I-I... I can kind of understand, I think? Wh... When I was little, there was this kind of candy that my parents had sent me in the mail that I would look forward to, even if I had tried to convince myself I disliked my parents. After they passed, I bought one myself but it didn’t really taste like anything...” He nervously glanced over towards Kokichi after he spoke, a small and sad smile on his face. 

Kokichi's eyes shined over to the amber hued ones, " Your parents... You don't talk about them much I'm guessing... I mean I know you have reasons, but... What were they like? If it goes into territory you'd rather not feel comfortable in, it's fine. Pressing on something and pestering just makes a person resent and ignore you." Kokichi seemed rather easy on Shuichi for once, no petty banter, no snappy remarks or quips, honestly not trying to make the other feel bad which was so unlike him. Then again, judging how his relation and quarrels with Haiji, he probably knew what it was like until he had shut down. And if he was the leader, it'd explain why he'd avoid certain topics. But again, no great conclusions and jumping the gun was a major 'DO NOT'. 

The detective widened his eyes softly when Kokichi had stricken up a friendly and casual conversation, no ill-intent behind his words, seeming like the purple haired boy just simply wanted to know more about him and his past... it felt kind of nice, actually. Shuichi had looked at Kokichi with an awkward smile before speaking softly, “ My parents...?” He thought out loud, looking upwards and his face turning more towards a lighthearted one, “ I guess in a way, they were passionate. They were both passionate about their goals and would do anything to achieve them. Even if that meant leaving their child alone. But, they always cared about me, I’m pretty sure. I got gifts and letters... and eventually they even tried to come back for me. So I think they were good people at heart, they just were... ambitious.” 

Kokichi stayed silent for a moment, reflecting on the words, " ..... It sounds like they were good people. I mean if they sent you things, wrote to you, and even tried to come back just see and be with you. They just had priorities ahead, but doesn't mean that they didn't think less of you. Just busy I guess. My real dad was like that." He sipped some of his drink and stayed quiet pondering the past. " Not like they went out of their way to up and abandon you on the streets..." 

Shuichi listened to the last part of Kokichi’s statement, nodding softly and agreeing with him. “ Yeah...” Shuichi mumbled softly, glancing at the purple haired boy who was sipping away at his drink. He then thought for a moment, before asking his own question, “ What was your Mom like?” He asked lightly, “ A-And like you said to me, you don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to.” 

The slightly younger male's lilac eyes wondered away as he placed his elbows onto the table, hand clasping together in order to hide his mouth away from the detective, " ... She was the sweetest lady I ever knew, compared to my real parents." So they hadn't split up, leave him, also meaning the brother was a lie as well. " Gentle, passionate, loving, kind, caring, fierce, courageous, stood up for what was right. She loved me so much... H-hehe, we'd sit around the living room, wrapping toys for gifts for the orphanage or gather up food for the poor and homeless, snacking on popcorn and soda while we watched a movie... We were like a family. Small b-but good... She'd do anything for me...." Recollecting memories however moved him into the energy driven Kokichi into a slump. 

Shuichi looked at the purple haired boy as he spoke of fond memories surrounding his Mom. But... he also saw that it seemed to take the usual energy out of his normal demeanor as well. Shuichi thought for a moment before replying to Kokichi, “ It seems like you had a really amazing Mom.” He spoke softly out of sympathy, before pausing for a few seconds. He looked around the establishment for a few moments before getting an idea and looking back towards Kokichi, “ Would you... like to go play some games?” 

Kokichi perked up to the idea, his hand going to his cup, shaking the drink he held slightly, trembling ever so lightly before sipping it and donning the mask of a wide grin, " Sure~! I'd love to~!" He giggled out in his usual fashion. 

The two got up and walked past children who were entertained by the animatronics and some who sat in a huddle in front of another animatronic that was hidden behind velvet red curtains. The thing was that of a brown sloth with a sleepy look on it's face, telling repeated stories to the kids. Besides being eerily still due to well, the notion of being a sloth, it's mouth moved quite well. Kokichi passed by a pink cat statue who was decorated in gaming attire, putting Chiaki to shame at some points, but then again Chiaki didn't look like they were from the 'radical '80s era'. Shuichi also soon found himself in a large area full of games, arcades, whack-a-moles, and more, glittered with bright neon colors and glows. Shuichi looked around the large area full of the brightly colored games, flashing lights, and sparkling surfaces. He glanced down towards Kokichi, happy that he seemed to be doing better and back to how he usually was... but also knew that it was probably a fake-happiness that he had put on when offered to go play some games. But... maybe he could get Kokichi to actually have fun? At least he hoped that would happen. Shuichi then asked, “ Are there any games here that are your favorites?” 

The other scoffed, " Not really. They get rid of old ones and replace them. So what's the point in something you love dearly only to miss it badly when it gets replaced right?" He went to token exchange, popping in a few dollars to exchange them into twinkling coins used for games. The purple haired boy strolled over to a ski-ball like game and popped a coin in, receiving some rather weighted balls. He picked several up and began to juggle them without a care in the world, purely use to it, no matter the weight. 

Shuichi watched as Kokichi had juggled the dispensed balls right in front of him like it was no difficult task, but also thinking over what Kokichi had said as he watched the balls rotate in the air and between the purple haired boy’s hands. Shuichi then thought for a moment, trying to come up with a good reply to him, “ Well... everything has to go away or get replaced sooner or later. But just because that’s inevitably going to happen doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it while it’s still here.” 

" Mmmm, not if it happens so often or it leaves vivid trauma. Tell me, would you rather live in a world with harsh truths or safe lies?" He asked before shooting the balls out from his hands, making them zoom across the lane and pocketing into the holes scoring points, racking it all up, awaiting tickets to shoot out for them both. 

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi when he was waiting for the tickets, almost immediately having a reply ready for the smaller boy. He was confident on this kind of question, it seemed. “ I would definitely rather live in a world with harsh truths.” He spoke firmly, “ Sure, everyone is afraid of learning the truth. But... people who are willing to find the truth are the ones who can decide their fate. If you never know the lies from the truth, then you can’t choose a path. You won’t even know you’re on a path. And... that’s why I became a detective. To fight for and face the truth, even though it may be frightening. So I can give people the opportunities to walk their own paths.” 

Kokichi listened to him as he he kept letting the weighted balls roll into their designated targets. " Hmm... What would you do if you were constantly forced to tell nothing but lies? Even though you want to tell the truth. And when you do, no one believes you. They all think you're just lying. Then you eventually end up alone, neglected, and begin to disassociate with what is a lie and what is a truth. You cry out for help but it just falls on deaf ears and no one comes... What do you do then? Would you try to resist it or would you finally succumb to it just so you can feel something again. Just so you can hold on to some type of clarity. Just so you can survive your own insanity?" Kokichi's tone went to a rather deathly cold one, almost automatically programmed like a computer, like a trance. No hesitation in the words. Now it was hard if he was actually asking the question or just blocking out Shuichi's answer and just going on. 

Shuichi listened to the cold tone that Kokichi had used when replying to him, knowing that he had to reply with some strong answer and not back down from what was just thrown at him. Shuichi calmed his thoughts and really tried to think of a good answer, until finally seconds later he replied, “ Well... if that was me... I’d probably tell all that to a new detective, who wants to try and help me, on a whim.” 

Suddenly the balls in the slot were gone and Kokichi promptly took the bundle of tickets, wandering off to something else that would easily distracted, smirking at the sight of a UFO Catcher. He popped another sparkling coin into the machine and looked at the apparent prizes inside. With a flick of the lever and a push of a blue button, the crane went down smoothly and snatched a small Kit bobble-head, pinching it by the large head, lifting it up gently and taking it back to the prize slot. He slipped it through the slot and tossed it to Shuichi, " Oh, right, I forgot. There's no detectives to talk to. Or anyone for that matter except for people who say they want to help you." He flashed a toothy smile back to him. 

Shuichi was surprised by the sudden toss of the bobble-head over towards him, fumbling with it and almost dropping it but then somehow managing to catch it before it went out of his grip entirely. He then looked towards Kokichi and his toothy smile that followed after his comment. Shuichi thought for a moment about his reply before looking Kokichi in the eyes, confidently. “ No, I didn’t think you forgot anything. I’m almost positive there’s at least one detective to talk to... a different one. One who’s not going to stop trying to help until he finds the truth and makes sure the people truly in the morally wrong are dealt with. One who... one who’s trying to really understand and get closer to the truth more than anyone has before. One who promises he will.” 

This in turn got an unexpected reply from the shorter boy who grabbed onto Shuichi's wrists as they were busy with the bobble-head. Kokichi looked up at him with chaotic eyes and grin pulled up so wide it was hard to tell if he was smiling in a sinister manner or giving off a warning signal as to back away, least he get hurt. " And I'm saying IF you were in that predicament what would you do? This is all hypothetical. At that moment, at that time, no where after and nowhere before..." His tone lowered down a bit, nearing the point of seriously tipping him over into anger. With a quick twitch of the eye he held Shuichi's wrists tighter, in a small threatening manner, " If you were in that position, alone, with people who claim to help you, but don't believe you, and you are forced to lie because telling the truth results in lying, what would you do? Would you lie or keep trying to tell the truth?" 

Shuichi had flinched softly when the grip that the other had on his wrists tightened, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest at the facial expression and amount of physical force that Kokichi was using to try and get his point across. But Shuichi knew that he had to at least try to break the barrier before the barriers could ever get fixed... he leveled his breathing, mentally tried to get his heart to calm down and came up with a reply for the angered boy. " If... If that was me... I would keep trying to tell the truth. Because it lets the people or things that have traumatized me know I'm not going to give up... and it would attract the attention of people who truly wanted to help me." 

The smaller boy let go of him before he could unintentionally starting digging his nails into the others wrists and remained quiet thinking over the reply. He soon brought his thumb to his mouth and fidgeted, slightly gnawing at it as he thought. The chaotic purple imp's eyes focused intently on the bedazzled flooring. Shuichi had finally got him in a corner, because he finally got a 'this or that answer', but more on how he had answered said question. Before the detective could say or get near him again the speakers from above the silky colorful happy go-lucky banners spoke out, " Saihara Shuichi, please report to the back door. Saihara Shuuuichi..." 

Shuichi had been looking at Kokichi's reaction to the whole thing before he was called out over the speakers. Something... didn't feel right. The timing was almost too perfect for it to be anything else other than the conversation the two of them had just shared and the reaction that Kokichi seemed to be having from it. Also... the back door? If someone had a concern that needed to be handled concerning the business, they would probably ask for him at the entrance or at the prize counter, or something of the sort. Shuichi took a deep breath and sighed it all out softly, preparing to brace himself. Before leaving, the navy haired detective had taken his wallet out and pulled out some money, not too focused on how much it was at the moment. but it certainly wasn't a small amount either. He gently grabbed one of Kokichi's hands and put the money in his palm. " H-Here... if... if you wanted to play some more." Shuichi didn't wait for Kokichi's answer, quickly turning around and making his way through the establishment and to the fated back door. The other blinked rather blankly, still deep in thought as he was handed over the yen. He watched the detective go see what was up for being called over and nodded quietly. 

Once Shuichi passed the large metal door in the back he had noted, a statue of a gorilla animatronic stood up right, tall and menacingly, folded arms and an intimidating scowl to watch the crowd, initially scaring any young children away from the back doors. Once passed, Shuichi found himself in a small hallways, branching off to doors, such as a worker's restroom, the actual kitchen, the manager's office, outside, power, storage, and security. But upon walking by one door that was slightly ajar, lay something that would rightfully scare the hell out of someone working over night. Behind the maintenance's door window held a salvaged, decaying, rusted, and limp body of a pudgy white bear. It's appearance was rather haunting as it was just splayed there on a rack on the wall to keep it up. It's arms and legs dangled at a twisted angle, empty eye sockets, and a cracked dislocated lower jaw. Wires and gears popped out while most of it's insides were gone. Shuichi felt a pang of fear run through his chest when he saw the old and worn out body of the rusted white bear who was in desperate need of repair... it was just downright spine-chilling to the detective and it made him stop in his tracks. He stopped in front of the maintenance room window to inspect the bear further, peering inside and even jumping slightly when he had hear a voice asking him a question. That... couldn't have come from the decaying bear... right? " People are cruel aren't they?" He quickly turned his head, looking around for the source of the voice. 

The Gothic Lolita attired woman rose a brow as she smoked from something you would catch a glimpse at when watching 99 and 1 Dalmatians from the antagonist. " Please tell me I didn't actually scare you. I don't need another pussy cop like Ishimaru or and idiotic robot who questions how this damn place works. Pretty sure it's just a guy who thinks he's a robot... Fucking idiot." She spewed out a cloud of bitter scented fruit," Can't smoke real ones inside. Against policy. Vapes okay though... Anyways, there's no one right in the head who wants to be with the gremlin aside from his weird-ass 'family'. Even Yuta and Masuki are questionable at times. So congrats on coming here trying to be undercover, you got balls." She took a puff again with a bored dull face. " Let's get to business shall we? Those fuckers came around two years ago out of the blue. Seen them take down druggies, thieves, and pedophiles. All I know is they steal, give it back, prank people, piss police off, and stop petty crimes. You can ask any of my staff and I will assure you, all of them have testimonies. And before you even think it, does it really look I'd be willing to put on that shit style uniform?" 

Shuichi blinked softly when Celeste had just began talking to Shuichi, barely even leaving him any room to get a word in. Shuichi listened to everything she had to say, noting that a lot of it was stuff he had already known mixed in with some little new details here and there that kept adding to the positive side of the gang that was in question. The off-duty detective gave the Gothic woman a small and nervous smile, " Um... thanks for the information, I'll make sure to keep that in mind and ask you if I have any other questions... but my main goal really wasn't to come here undercover and investigate into the group... I honestly just owed Kokichi a trip here, that's all... and to actually maybe learn more about him as well." 

The black spiraled haired woman actually cracked a smile, " Tch-hehehe..." She chuckled to herself before going back to the flat featureless face, " ... Oh shit, you're serious. Well I'd be damned. All I can say is you have a weird taste in 'friends'. The little bastard just enjoys coming here time from time. One of his roomies is with security, gets along with the mascot, Gabu, surprisingly doesn't lie or cause trouble like he does on the outside. He's reserved and plays around like a damn kid. Whenever he feels depressed, he'll somehow sneak into the place and sleep at the top of the tubes and what not. I think this place is some type of safety blanket. It's all I've got. However when he's not here, he's the most annoying son of bitch in the world. Anyways, security's down that way if want to ask them anything." Another drag from the vape, " Besides that, I don't know anything about underground gambling or D.I.C.E." She said before going into her office, seeming annoyed. 

Shuichi watched as the Gothic Lolita styled woman had gone into her office, blinking when she said something about underground gambling. There had to be something there... but Shuichi didn’t want to put in the time to deal with that right now. It’s best to let sleeping beats lie, at least for now. But, it was interesting to know how Kokichi had acted in this place versus when he was outside. Shuichi could kind of notice before, but now he could really see it because it was pointed out to him. Now, it would be really beneficial to go to security since Celeste mentioned something about a roommate working security as well. He could probably get more information on Kokichi, and maybe the organization too... but mainly just Kokichi. Shuichi began to head down the hall where Celeste had pointed out to him, searching for security. 

He easily spotted the security room where Yuta viewed over some cameras as he leaned back in his rolling chair, chatting with a large muscled man who had their back turned from the door Shuichi had poked through. Yuta seemed busy on some small gaming device as sensors below each camera flashed multiple green buttons, indicating if something was going wrong. Though there were no cameras following Kokichi's movements, instead they were just scattered all over the place, having many screens all around the room. One screen's lower buttons lit to red as the top of the screen typed in an analysis of what was going on in frame. Yuta looked over as a ding rung out and pushed a button, leaning into a speaker, " Excuse me, would the man in Mafdy's Gym put away the cigarette. It's not the hard to walk outside sir." 

Shuichi looked inside the security room, watching what was taking place in there before slowly entering the room and giving a soft knock on the open door as to not be rude. “ H-Hi, sorry if I’m intruding...” He spoke with a nervous smile on his face, glancing at the two that were already in the room. 

Yuta spun his chair and gave a bright smile, " Oh hey! Mister Detective Man! What's up?! Wait, what are you doing here-ohhh wait, yeah, yeah, you came in with Kokichi and then Celeste called you up to give you the business on uh..." He snapped his nimble fingers for a moment to tack down the name, " Right! The business to not let you go snooping around because Haiji might have told you." He gave a carefree shrug and set his device down, scooping up a drink that was no where near the electronics, " But she's been like that since Haiji came raining down on here, almost closed the place down a couple of times." 

Shuichi nodded, seeming to understand why Celeste would be like that a little more now. “ Yeah...” He mumbled softly, a nervous smile on his face. 

The big muscled man walked over to Shuichi, looking down at him with his hands on his hips. “ Hm.” He spoke softly, looking down at the navy haired boy. “ Don’t think I’ve met you before. Name’s Nidai Nekomaru! And you?” He asked, putting a hand out for the detective to shake. 

“ S-Shuichi. Saihara Shuichi .” He spoke, reaching out to shake the larger man’s hand. 

“ Ah come on, you can do better than that!” He spoke confidently, a grin on his face “ Firmer grip! Flex that arm! A handshake defines a first greeting!” 

Shuichi widened his eyes when Nekomaru had started to... teach him how to properly handshake? It was a little out of the blue, but Shuichi wasn’t really off-put by it. “ U-Um, Okay!” 

Yuta snickered out, " Hahaha! Yeah, Nekomaru here is pretty intimidating, thus why Celeste hired this beef cake!" he laughed out cheerfully, " Neko, this is the guy I keep talking about 'cuz Kokichi won't stop." Another blip sang out on the panels, making the energetic runner sprint off, " Another kids trying to go near the stage guys again, be right back!" With that, he zoomed off of his chair, making it spin around and dashed out like a blur. He only very nearly ran into the plush mascot that was walking in. " Sorry!" 

" OI! Watch it ya' speedster!" The wolf yelled out before walking awkwardly into the room and removing it's enormous head to reveal the head of a small African-Asian with freckles, a toothy child like gap in the teeth, mischievous eyes behind a black bandit eye mask, and a dark black afro that looked as woolly as a sheep. Shuichi had looked at Yuta as he had ran out of the guard's room, so his eyes naturally just shifted to the person who had walked into the room who had just taken off their animal head to reveal the features that lay underneath. 

Nekomaru grinned, giving out a low chuckle as Yuta was scolded. “ He’s just doing his job, pretty well at that. Nothing can stand in his way, not even you!” He laughed out slightly at the end of his statement. 

Masuki shook her head, letting her puffy hair frizzle out in the new air, " Pth, yeah I know, but still, came thiiiis close to knocking us both down! Oh hey is officer twinkerbell, what's up-Wait... Weren't you with Kokichi?" he thought suddenly shifted gears onto another track, " Ohhh wait. Right, right, Miss 'Man' wanted to see you. Well if you're gonna' check us, I ain't stripping for you navy-locks." 

Shuichi widened his eyes and had gotten a little embarrassed when Masuki had mentioned something like stripping, shaking his head quickly, “ N-No! That’s not it at all! I-I Just was here to ask a few questions about Kokichi, that’s all!” 

Nekomaru grinned at the navy haired detective, acting like Masuki wasn’t in the wrong for assuming he’d want something like that at all, “ Ah, well why didn't you say so before!?” He asked enthusiastically 

Yuta came back just in time for some questions and sat in his chair like a disciplined dog, " Back, so uhhh... What are you gonna' ask us? All the police do this, even though we've got no connection with D.I.M.E." 

The girl gave a soft sighed, " It's D.I.C.E. and he's just here to ask about Kokichi." 

Yuta's expression drastically changed, his eyes going back to their usual peppy and bright ones, " Oh! Ohhhh! Yeah sure man, what's up?!" 

Shuichi noticed how much Yuta had changed from learning that he just wanted to know more about Kokichi, finding the change pretty interesting. Shuichi thought for a moment before awkwardly looking between the three other people in the room with a hesitant smile, “ Y... You see... I kind of just want to know more about Kokichi, so... anything you guys will be able to tell me would be good. How he usually acts around you guys, more on how he acts here, what you know about him... a-anything really.” 

Yuta poked his chin with a single finger, making a face, sticking his tongue out slightly or puffing his cheek up and his eyes wandered to the upper left side of his vision, " Hmmm. Well he likes to play pranks, gets fussy, loves this place, acts like a kid here, tries his best to not cry in public, gets feisty, tries to be happy by smiling even if he's upset. Uhhhm, if he's angry he gets super angry, he likes to lie to people except when at home. Uhhh, not really sure what else there is to him. He's just energetic and a trickster." 

The small woolly haired girl also pondered on the topic, " Uh, let's see. He takes care not to disturb any of the kids, sometimes shows magic tricks for them, tells them stories and origins on the characters, is usually quiet but happy here. Loves pissing our boss off, he'll sometimes go out in the back and chuck cans and bottles at me so I can hit 'em with my bat." 

Nekomaru nodded, agreeing with the other two on their perspective on Kokichi. " Hmmmm..." the big muscular man thought, trying to come up with something different than what the two had already said. " He's a really friendly guy when he's here at this place, sometimes when I see him in public though he usually goes out of his way to try and be a pain to people. Especially detectives like yourself. Other than that, I can pretty much back what these two are saying about how he acts here. " 

Shuichi had nodded softly, taking in what the three of them had said about the purple haired boy. He gave them a small smile before speaking, " Thanks, that's really helpful." the detective then cleared his throat softly before looking at the three of them, " Would you guys say you're close to Kokichi? Or just acquaintances?" 

The dark toned girl placed herself on a nearby table, dangling her legs much like a child. She kicked around the fluffy paws of the suit, the soft tail wagging behind her thanks to a mechanical part in the suit's back compartment, " Well... I don't see him too terribly much, but when I do, yeah I'd say we're pretty tight. Specially when we get ideas." She gave a toothy gaped smile as if she were a hockey player. Her eyes shined under the lights of the room and screens, reflecting pure mischievous glee from previous pranks or trouble making all together. 

Yuta furrowed his brows in concentration, " Well, I am one of his roommates, so I'd certainly hope so. He enjoys asking me how things are here and how my sister is doing who I get to see on the weekends with her friend. At home, he can either be the life of party, sassy as F, or hides out in his room. It's hard to pinpoint the guy even though I live with him." He gave off a shrug with an apologetic smile, it looked rather genuine. 

Nekomaru stood up straight and confident, not opting to sit down or lean against any wall. He moves his hands to his waist however and began to speak after the other two were done sharing, “ I only really ever see him around here, but when we do talk to each other it feels like he’s being pretty genuine. Not sure if that counts as being close to you, but in my book it’s pretty damn close.” 

Shuichi had nodded with all three of their responses, giving a soft smile, “ Thanks for the answers, you guys.” He then had a tint of an embarrassed blush on his cheeks as he looked down and to the side “ You see, I-I’m trying to get close to Kokichi as well... a-and I’m doing by best to do that, but I’m not exactly sure if it’s working...” 

The track runner gave a soft smile and chuckle, " I think you're doing fine. He likes talking about you and seems to like being with you. Just stay steady and I don't know... Be there for him I guess? Not really sure on the whole couples stuff." 

Yuta flailed back in his seat as the mascot's large head was tossed to him, smacking him in the head. Masuki scoffed, " Yuta please! Just 'cuz he's stuttering and likes someone and wants to get close doesn't mean he wants to be a couple. Then again, I don't fuckin' know either. I've had people be like that with me, my friend Segata says I'm hard to make friends with, so is Kokichi." 

Shuichi widened his eyes softly when the mascot head was thrown at Yuta, but otherwise glad that they had reassured him that he was doing fine in getting closer to Kokichi, romantically or otherwise. The navy haired detective nodded slightly, " Thanks for the advice and the pointers." Shuichi thanked before realizing how long he's actually been away from Kokichi, " I-I should probably be getting back to him. Anyway, it was nice to talk with you all." 

Nekomaru grinned at the navy haired detective " Hey, thanks for stopping by and talking. You know, you don't seem like a pretty bad guy at all. Sure the boss might not want a detective around here, but in my book, you're free to come and visit with us anytime you like!" 

Masuki laughed out giving a toothy smile, waving to the leaving detective, " Yeah, yeah, same here~! I don't mind ya' at all, you're funny!" She snickered under her breath before catching the head which was thrown back, giving a grin, throwing it back at Yuta, successfully smacking him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this fic's D.I.C.E. member's masks are based off of the animatronics like Celes said. These contains,  
> Bat - Ibuki  
> Bear - None (Monokuma is the mascot)  
> Cat - Miu  
> Cheetah & Fake Fox/Wolf - Yuta (To be a decoy leader just in case)  
> Fox - Kokichi  
> Gorilla - Gonta  
> Lion - Leon  
> Owl - Rantaro  
> Rabbit - Saionji  
> Rat/Weasel/Possum thing - Gundham  
> Shark - Kazuichi  
> Sheep - Komadea  
> Sloth - Hagekure
> 
> If anyone is wondering, Masuki's friend who travels is named, Segata Sunchuro. He's made by a friend who I got into Danganronpa; the one wh made Eddy. Think of Gonta but a bit bigger. The Ultimate Dungeon-Master. He plays all types of games much like Chiaki, but excels more on board games, and even for someone so big and strong, he has quick wit and morale. His dad is based off of the Sega guy back in the day, making him and his dad pretty OP 'cuz anime logic. Me an my friend made up our own 4th installment but, I rather not go into it at the moment... In fact the commercials, they killed the Sega man off, and the only way was with a fucking nuke!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc3AK8k90xw


	26. Able To Roam Around So Free, I Have Secrets Inside Of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finishing up the 'date'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gayness continues

Once the detective walked out from the room full of monitors and screens, subtle speaking was picked up nearby. Though listening on someone's conversation was frowned upon, it was technically part of his job which could lead to potential clues. From the room that was still ajar and held the mangled animatronic's remains to rot on the wall, he heard the manager herself talking with someone he had heard before, but where? Wait... that low distinct voice, the guy from the mall, Ryoma, right? " So when's the game?" 

" It'll be up tomorrow at ten. You bringing anyone?" 

" Nah. I'll be there as long as you serve some grub and you don't kill anyone again." 

The Lolita gave a huff, " For the last time, that was three years ago, a one time thing, they were cheating, threatening, but most of all, we caught him on surveillance. I'm damn sure he was after someone here. You rather have some hit-man walk around in town hunting down people?" 

" Hmm... Not really, seeing as they could have hunted me down as well..." Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when he had heard the conversation between Celesta and Ryoma. Then, there definitely was some form of underground gambling here and overhearing this conversation proved it. Shuichi... didn't exactly know what to do at this point. Technically since he didn't come into this establishment to search it or interrogate people without a proper warrant or grant by the owner of the establishment the evidence may be pushed off to the side anyway. And, Shuichi didn't really want to make the manager upset about any of it, since he wanted to come back to this place with Kokichi again sometime in the future... Shuichi sighed internally, tucking that tidbit of information for later to see if it could be useful. He didn't want to admit it, but it could be sued for a good piece of blackmail later if need be... even though Shuichi really didn't want it to come to that. The navy haired detective walked away as silently and as quickly as he could away from the room and towards the back doors of the establishment again to hopefully go find Kokichi. 

Shuichi might have been quick enough to evade the snarky and harsh manager, however he didn't walk out fast enough for the short man in the black eared cap to not notice. The doors Shuichi had just passed through opened and before he could walk further away from the back rooms, Ryoma easily caught his attention from behind, " Hey. Come back over here." The smaller male fussed with a fake cigarette that was placed in between his teeth as he chewed on it, signaling the other to come over and have a seat at a small bench tucked away next to the kitchen's outer walls. The stout male stuffed his hands into his pockets of the coat and took a seat, watching excited kids traversing through the pipes nearby and above, giggling as they came up with games within the large construction. Shuichi's heart hammered in his chest as he followed the short statured man to the spot on the bench where he was instructed to sit. He probably knew that Shuichi was eavesdropping on their conversation, and honestly was expecting the worst to happen. Of all the places to die, Shuichi really didn't want it to be towards the back of a childhood pizzeria. But, the navy haired boy took a deep breath and mentally reassured himself the conversation the two were going to have would be harmless and that nothing bad would come from it. Shuichi just tended to always think of every possible outcome of a situation, the negative ones usually being the first ones to pop up in his head. The detective sat down on the small bench looking over to Ryoma, who had instructed him to follow suit and sit down. 

The other kept his large focused eyes on the children running through the colorful plastic tubes, occasionally catching a quick glimpse of Kokichi here and there. He calmly asked the detective in a hushed tone, " So... How much did you hear?" His eyes gazed over to look up to the slightly shaking detective who knew he was in serious trouble under the unemotional gaze and solid look from Ryoma. " Also calm down, if I wanted to do something, I'd have done it by now. I would have told the Queen Bitch or worse, call over her and the batty chick." He spoke calmly to reassure Shuichi wasn't targeted to get gutted and dismantled like the old bear in the back. 

Shuichi glanced over at Ryoma for a few seconds, his shoulders slumping down softly as he relaxed in his seat and now fully confident that nothing truly bad was going to happen as a result of eavesdropping. He then looked back out at the crowd, replying to the smaller man sitting next to him quietly, " Something about a game tomorrow at ten. You'll be going there alone, and that the manager of this establishment killed a man three years ago that might have been a hit man." 

Again Ryoma spoke, but softly to avoid any conflict from any passerby's, getting his hands out to clasp together, leaning forward, " Figures as much. Look, I may not know you fully and you to me, but I've done many things and if you're the type of person who'd lock me away for what I'm about to tell ya', well I don't mind. From what Iv'e heard you're a kind person, and I don't mean to drop all of this on ya', but I'd rather tell someone whose willing to listen and works for justice and isn't nuts." he paused briefly, " Yeah, there's poker, it's small. Cheaters get kicked out, only happens three a month, people can only chip in so much. Celeste would rather not have anyone going around robbing banks or doing stupid shit just to get in because they're addicted. Could be worse. Could be a kidnapping and human trafficking, or a drug ring. I'm not saying it's a good thing to have around, just that it could be worse. If you take her in or me, I don't care. I'm not the best person, payed for that in the past... Anyways, that's not what I want to talk about... Leon yaps about how Kokichi yaps about you and you seem interested in the guy. Thought you'd like to know some info on him... or well, something concerning around him, right?" 

Shuichi looked at Ryoma, surprised that he would offer information about Kokichi’s after what the detective had just learned about his involvement with an underground gambling set-up. Shuichi didn’t really plan to yap about it in the first place... but hearing Ryoma’s explanation made him want to keep quiet about it even more. It was the same with D.I.C.E. What they were doing was technically against the law... but it could be a whole lot worse without them around. Shuichi looked towards Ryoma, smiling softly, “ I... I won’t take any action against it at this point, I don’t think. So you can rest easy there... but about Kokichi...” Shuichi began to get more quieter, in fear the purple haired boy might be able to head them somehow. “ I really would like to learn more about him, if you had something to tell me.” 

The capped male noticed the more gentle tone in his voice and smiled calmly, " Don't worry. Your uhh... 'Friend' is in the tubes having the time of his life, playing with the kids. The place brings back some type of locked childhood trauma up so he can be a kid again is my guess." He cricked his neck to pop it, " So... I'm not too sure, but I suspect that this may have involved Kokichi somehow. You see some... Deaths happened. Happened when he came into town, about three to four years ago. How do I know? Well, at the time Leon was looking for a place to live instead of crashing with me. He met up with Rantaro and Kokichi. Kokichi was a guy I never saw around town. Suddenly around those two years, some odd deaths took place. The really weird thing is, is that all the deaths were of brothers, all identical, from a octuplet set. Eight in total. One brother lives here, he verified the police that his brothers were all hit-men... He didn't know who they were hunting down, but being the youngest by a few seconds and not wanting to be affiliated with them, made him locked out of certain information." 

Shuichi looked over at Ryoma, really curious about how Kokichi could be involved with the murder of the octulpet set... he looked at the smaller man with a curious and interested look on his face, nodding softly “ Is there anything else you can tell me about the incident?” 

Ryoma went to pretend to shave the ash off his candy out of habit from cutting himself off from the real thing, " Tch... Yeah, lots. Eight brothers in total, though some might not have been involved with the others." He gave out a sigh, recollecting the previous events he vividly remembered, finding it all peculiar. " First guy, no body found, but they found his tongue being chewed on by possum nearby the town on the outskirts. Another guy was the victim of Genocider Jack who was thought to have vanished since they left the city you lived in. Could have been a coincidence or a copycat. Third guy was disposed of the Yakuza, that one, not sure about. Fourth was done in by Masuki after Celeste caught the guy cheating and eyeing someone here. Put plastic blanketing all over a room, gave her a bat and took her mask off. She went to town without even knowing she was killing somebody. Don't put it against her... Fifth guy was at the zoo slash sanctuary. Apparently he had been hiding in a tree with a blow-dart full of poison. 'Somehow' he fell into the pit of the largest and kindest crocodile the place has. Big gal never offered to bite and tear up live prey, but that guy... She was made a hero. And the last guy, found him shot dead in-between the eyes, no bullet was found. Was found in front of the police station, body hung up on a lamppost..." 

Shuichi had nodded, trying to take all of those details down to his memory so he could recall all of these facts later when the time arose. But, how could those be connected to Kokichi in any way? Sure the dates seemed to line up, but how else did Kokichi fit into all of it...? This was going to be a tough one to crack, that’s for sure. But, it was worth it. The detective seemed to be lost in thought over all of the new information he was given by Ryoma, almost to the point where he forgot to reply to him. Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts, looking towards Ryoma and asking another question, “ A-And is there any other information that would connect Kokichi further?” 

He put his small yet steady hands back into the comfort of his pockets, " From what I've been able to tell, Masuki will do just about anything for a friend and Celeste doesn't like losing customers permanently. His name was said once or twice, accusing the guy, they even got the fucker on tape. This is why she established a rule that anyone who comes in has to have a child, no lone guys wondering around in or outside unless they actually order food. I was there when it happen. Again, I'm not a saint, so I didn't care at the time. Kokichi's said that he knows Genocider Jack, but he could be lying, considering they could have easily killed him. The one at the zoo, well, two of his roomies work there... So I can only connect three possibilities." 

Shuichi nodded, knowing that what he was just told by Ryoma could be a really solid lead about getting to know Kokichi more. So, the guy could have been trying to get to Kokichi in some way... Shuichi looked towards Ryoma with a soft smile on his face, “ Thanks for telling me all of this. It’ll be really helpful.” 

The smaller male shrugged, " Was gonna' call you, let you know. But uhhh, I got lost on the way of life." He coughed into his sleeve, as to let Shuichi know, he had just forgotten or was busy. " Always wanted to be a Watson to a detective. Heh, it feels good to help out someone I'm sure I can trust. If I can't and you stab me in the back, doesn't matter." His quick smile quickly dissipated into his neutral face. The guy must have been through a lot. At the very least he was honest about himself, because no one would intentionally act like this if they did give any care. " You might have to visit those places, people, or ask Hajime. All I can say really is, good luck and I'll be there if you need help." He hopped off and gave a small wink with a thumbs up, " Other than that, you still got a ways to go." And with that, he began to depart from the detective. 

Shuichi smiled when Ryoma had started to part ways with him, standing up from the bench and waving towards the smaller man as he began to walk away. “ Thanks again,” Shuichi spoke before taking a deep breath and beginning to walk back towards the main area of the establishment, rather than the back part of it. He went through the back doors and started to walk back to where he had left Kokichi, looking around for the purple headed mischief maker. 

Out of seemingly nowhere the purple panta fueled demon jumped Shuichi, quite literally as he almost hopped onto Shuichi's back. He hadn't but did hop up and place his hands on the detective's shoulders, pressing some weight onto him before scampering to his side and finally in front of him with a large shit eating grin, " Aha! Found you Mister Detective~! Nishishi! I certainly hope miss Edgelord didn't snap your ear off with how much she doesn't like you policey types." His eyes twinkled before handing the unbalanced detective a medium sized plushie of an orca, " Got this with all the tickets I managed to steal from people not looking~!" Annnd back to the lies... 

Shuichi blinked, caught off guard by the sudden tackle he had gotten from Kokichi and finding his balance only when Kokichi had handed him the stuffed orca. He looked at it then back at Kokichi, being able to see almost instantly through his lies. He wouldn’t ever steal tickets from the other people here, that just wasn’t like him. Shuichi smiled slightly, looking at Kokichi, “ That’s a lie, isn’t it?” 

The tone that came out was one that sounded quite serious, " Why would I lie about that? it's a rather large accomplishment. Don't detectives like when the criminal pushes themselves into the public so they can get caught?" The glimmer in his eyes returned as he gave a pout, yet slide a smirk, " Nishishi, Mister Detective is getting good at finding me out. Of course I won them fair and square... Doesn't mean I don't know my way around games though~." Wait, did he find a way to cheat at the games or... another lie? Whatever, at the very least he hadn't stole the papery values. 

Shuichi felt himself relax when Kokichi had dropped the serious tone and returned to the glimmery eyed and mischievous look that the boy almost always had. He smiled softly, looking at the purple haired boy, “ Well, it seems like you enjoyed yourself at least. Sorry about being gone for so long, kind of defeats the point of coming here to be with you...” 

The purple imp huffed out a puff of air, making his bangs drift up for a moment, " Oh pttth, it's no big deal! Besides, you're the one who spent the money~. And apart from that I at least got to get to know you a bit more, got to be with you, and just having you nearby makes me feel..." He paused to think, puffing one of his cheeks as his purple brows furrowed. " Preserved in a way. Sides, I got prizes galore, check it out-Bam!" He said, showing off his back that had a small backpack filled with toys... How the hell did he manage to win all those-along with the pink backpack? 

Shuichi looked at the small backpack filled with toys, taking a moment to be in shock about how much Kokichi was able to win from the establishment. He also liked the fact that Kokichi had a good time with him and that he had enjoyed getting to know himself some more... that was always good. Shuichi smiled in response to being shown the prizes. “ Wow, that really is a lot... how did you even manage to get that much?” He asked 

" Nishishi, I told you already, I cheated... Nah, I'm just very skilled. I can beat machines because they have a one track thing. I learned around it. Well aside from Kii-Boy, but he's special like that." He said rubbing his nails against his shirt and admiring them as if he had actually made them better without any effort. " I wonder if I played a game against you if you'd be able to win..." The sly and sinister smirk slowly twisted and curled his lips. If he was the leader, he could be referring to the game of guess who mixed with cat and mouse. But if he wasn't, then what was he implying?

Shuichi raised a brow when mentions of a game was brought up again by Kokichi, not knowing what kind of game that Kokichi really had meant. But... it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right. Shuichi looked towards Kokichi, an interested look on his face as he spoke, “ What kind of game are you referring to?” 

Kokichi started to walk out of the building, waving to a few workers, keeping a smug smile on his face for Shuichi, " Depends on what you think I mean. It all relies on if you catch me in the act of it. If not, well then, that's too bad, nishishi~. Now Mister Detective, care to walk me home~?" He gave his charismatic smile, bowing slightly as the automated doors slide open to the snowy tundra of outside. 

Shuichi followed the smaller boy out of the building, taking Kokichi’s words into consideration. So he was referring to the game of cat and mouse the two seemed to be playing... Shuichi then put a smile on his face as they had walked into the the frozen wonderland outside “ Of course, what kind of detective would I be if I didn’t walk you home?” He commented, an awkward but happy smile on his face as he walked alongside Kokichi. Shuichi then looked down at the orca he was still holding that the purple haired boy had placed in his arms, “ Ah, do you want me to hold this for you until we get to your place?” He asked. 

While the shorter boy stomped around in the plush snow, kicking up flakes with each small pile he gave a small chuckle, " Nishi, silly... I won that for you. In exchange for something. But I'll let you know once I've thought of what you owe me~." He really was a child, bouncing around, a bag full of toys, sleeves bigger than his arms, childish giggling. But now that they were outside, that also meant his defenses would be back up, leaving asking certain things to be tedious yet again. 

The navy haired detective looked at the purple haired boy, knowing that he should of expected something like this to happen. Nonetheless... looking at the plushie, it was pretty cute. And even though Kokichi asked for something in return, it was pretty nice of him to win the plushie for him. Was he getting through to Kokichi, even just a little. Sure it would be hard outside of the pizzeria, but Shuichi felt like this progress was enough for now. Until, at least he could piece all of the pieces together. Shuichi looked at the orca in his hands again before looking back towards Kokichi with a happy smile, “ Thanks.” He said sincerely. 

" No need to get all mushy about it mister detective." He gave a smile that wasn't filled with his casual mischief. It was rare to see a genuine smile from the boy... In fact, Shuichi hadn't heard him have a real laugh, it always seemed somewhat forced. It was elusive to see him smile, laugh, have fear in his eyes, or even cry out in anguish. Sure nobody would like people see them vulnerable, but not even a smile or laugh was just wrong. How many faces did he constantly have at his disposal? Along with that, always with the nickname. He had never called the detective by his name, only when introducing him to someone. The thought and analysis of this was something Shuichi had to mull over as he walked along side with him. Shuichi occasionally glanced over at Kokichi as they walked together, and as the detective was getting lost in his thoughts but also having the genuine smile he had gotten from the purple haired boy burned as an image into his head. It was a good thing, really. As they walked, Shuichi didn’t really bother to ask the other anymore questions about anything. To the navy haired boy, the silence was more peaceful and full of content than anything as it was filled with random thoughts scattering through his head. 

Unfortunately all peaceful things had to distract themselves with noise. The two got to the apartments and Kokichi cocked his head to view above, making sure no one was outside to holler at him. He turned to the navy haired boy, " Welp! Here's my place! Nishishi, thanks for at least pretending to like going out with me-" before Shuichi could interject the scarfed imp gave a Cheshire grin, " I'm kidding, I'm kidding... It was nice actually. Just knowing someone would take the time to go out and even if you weren't always by me, it was nice knowing you hadn't run off without me." He voice went rather gentle and soft, not looking for attention, not being rude for a reaction, no teasing. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes from the sincerity of Kokichi’s words, a warm feeling in his chest beginning to well up like a balloon. He gave the other a bright smile, a light blush dusting the top of his cheeks as he smiled at him. “ I’m glad you enjoyed it. I really liked taking you out too.” He then looked down to the grown at his feet, a nervous smile on his face, “ Want to maybe do it again sometime?” The detective asked, peeking up at the purple haired troublemaker. 

The easily excited boy gave a large smile, " That'd be nice! Nishishi, maybe we could actually spend more time with one another next time!" He spun around to take his leave up the snow clustered stairs but stopped as one leg rose. He turned himself around and leaned in close to Shuichi with cheeky eyes, " Oh right! Almost forgot, I know what I want in return... Buuuut, I'm not sure you can handle it." 

Looking down at how close Kokichi was to him, Shuichi had a slightly embarrassed blush covering the tops of his cheeks just slightly. And those cheeky eyes told Shuichi that something was bound to happen...Clearing his throat, the flustered detective looked to Shuichi and spoke, “ I... I think I can handle it. What is it?” 

" Tch, do I really need to spell it out for you Mister Detective? I thought detectives would know a bit more insight than this. Well, I mean unless you're like not into that, then by all means, being in a platonic relationship is fine, I respect boundaries." He said, putting his hands up, still with a cocky smirk etched out on his lips. " Though if I were a girl, I'd have dropped you right here and now. You should never keep one of them waiting..." His confidence was slowly wilting away as he now just made it awkward, " I'm lying! Gotta' go!" He quickly turned around to make a mad dash for it. 

Shuichi widened his eyes, a bright blush on his face as Kokichi turned around to try and book it. The navy haired boy didn’t really know what he was thinking when he reached his hand out and grabbed the smaller boy’s wrist before the other had a chance to run away from him. Kokichi had froze up at the sudden pull at his wrist, fear of he just fucked up immensely started taking effect, slithering into his mind. Maybe it had just been one-sided and Shuichi rather have someone more in control of their whacked out emotions.But low and behold the trickster was turned around to face him, scared that he'd be gotten onto for trying to do something he wanted. It happen many times in the past, why would it be any different now?“ W-Wait!” Shuichi shouted, more embarrassed from suddenly just shouting out of nowhere to the point where his whole body froze, “ U-Um, Well, I mean, I definitely wouldn’t mind if...” Shuichi paused, trying to find his words, “ Well, wh-what I’m trying to say is...” Shuichi fumbled, trying to put what he wanted to say into words but just finding he was getting a little tongue tied at he moment. Once Shuichi spoke, Kokichi began to calm himself-or tried to, having a small tremor of shakes weave around his body.So... he’d have to speak with his actions. Without giving his brain a chance to think, his heart controlled his body and pulled Kokichi gently by his wrist so the purple haired boy was closer. The navy blue kept holding onto Kokichi’s wrist, looking down at him with a nervous look on his face before in the next second Shuichi had leaned down and pressed his lips against Kokichi’s. If Kokichi's mind had a chance to catch up, he probably could have been a lot smoother about the whole thing... but this was the result. He really wasn't expecting to be pulled over, still a deer in headlights, but his mind began to spark once their lips met. All the fear and uncertainty soon ran dry and he was pleasantly immersed in Shuichi's clumsy kiss. He let his eyes close and kiss back as well as he could. 

Shuichi’s nerves seemed to have been settled by the feeling of Kokichi trying to return his clumsy and unplanned kiss, a feeling of happiness welling up in his chest and making his heart pound a mile a minute. But, though his heart was beating fast his body began to get more relaxed with each passing moment the kiss had went on. Shuichi held the kiss for a few more moments that felt like they had been over in a split second, when in reality they had been kissing for more than a while. The navy haired boy quickly then pulled away, opening his eyes and looking at Kokichi with a bright red blush covering his face, and as it felt like at this point, his entire being. The smaller male parted away as well and opened his eyes up to the detective. his instinct was to scrunch his neck up, hiding his face into the vibrant scarf, covering up the red tint on his own cheeks and face. The bright purple eyes looked into the golden amber ones and for a split second Shuichi could see a cracked mask in Kokichi's ever apparent armor to keep a face up. The look was that of an abused animal questioning why someone was now treating it in a gentle manner and longing for more from just the small taste of kindness. That was what Kokichi really was, he really was just a scared kid who learned how to fake a smile. For all the teasing he did, he was actually a bit more timid than Shuichi himself. It was like they were back at the pizzeria or the time he spent the night, where he let his guard down for once. 

Shuichi had looked at Kokichi, seeing right through to the true look that the smaller boy was showing. Seeing that the other was willing to or his guard down in front of him for just a split second, meant so much to the navy haired boy. So, even through the embarrassed blush on his face, Shuichi gave the other a small yet awkward smile while looking into his eyes. “ U-Um...” Shuichi spoke softly, trying to break the silence while letting go of Kokichi, “ W-Was that okay...?” 

Kokichi didn't react as sharp as he normally would and blinked for a moment before the mocking sneer came back, his hands gripping Shuichi's wrists, pulling him foreword, " Nishsishi, pretty good rookie~. We'll have to work on that if you really want to live up to my standards~." Oh yeah... He was lying. It was pretty damn obvious, but it still did make Shuichi fluster up anyways. With that Kokichi weaseled himself from the detective's grip with ease and began walking backwards to the stairs, " Byyyye Mister Detective~!" He spun around, walking up the stairway, still holding the smirk that had found it's home on his face. 

Shuichi watched as Kokichi walked up the stairway, knowing that the kiss was probably up to standards and that Kokichi was lying to him. After how flustered the purple haired boy had gotten, Shuichi wasn’t surprised that he had back-lashed with lies. However, Shuichi was still very embarrassed. As Kokichi walked up the staircase Shuichi spoke a simple, “ H-Have a good day!” Then mentally beat himself up for saying something so simple, cheesy, and dorky like that. He then started to walk away, putting the collar of his coat over his mouth out of embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The octuplets are not made up. They are from one of the novels and a creepy as fuck.


	27. But Maybe They Are Nightmares, Of Worlds In-Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **This is just a bad dream...  
>  AnD YoU'rE NeVeR WaKiNg Up!  
> UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!  
> UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!  
> UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!  
> UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!  
> UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!  
> UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP!  
> UPUPUPU-IT'S A LIE-UPUPUPUP!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Helping Yacchi (The orca plusie) present is a reference to the 1994 anime Tico of the Seven Seas. Shuichi's Japanese voice actress, Megumi Hayashibara, provides the voice of the main character: Nanami Simpson.

Once Shuichi got home, he was greeted by his friends, Kaito just finishing up his meal, and seeing the detective holding the toy whale, " Heeeey, there he is-... Uhh... What's with the whale, buddy? Did the orphanage caretaker think ya' were a kid again and give ya' a gift?" He asked, scratching his dark purple goatee with a confused look on his face.

Shuichi’s cheeks immediately got a little red from Kaito’s question, a little embarrassed to be thinking about the person that gave it to him at the moment, “ U-Um...” Shuichi started to reply, “ Not exactly...” 

Kaede was sitting at the table with Kaito as well, a curious look on her face, “ Hmm? Where’d you get it then?” Kaede smiled and giggled softly, “ It looks pretty cute.”

Shuichi glanced off to the side, nervousness welling in his chest as he gripped onto the stuffed orca in his hands, “ U-Um... I got it as a gift, b-but not from the caretaker...”

" Ohhhhh! I gotcha', I gotcha'! I can read my sidekick like the back of my palm-" Kaito stopped suddenly as his eyes flickered to a small bruise on his hand he had gotten from running into something. How was that even possible? Who knew, but that's what Kaito specialized in sometimes. " Huh, that's new. Anyways, Ya' got it from a date or somethin', riiight~?" He asked, clicking his tongue and waving around finger guns. Where was Maki when Shuichi needed her?

Shuichi widened his eyes when Kaito had basically hit the head on the nail, really wishing that Maki was there to tell Kaito that maybe he was prying a little to deep. And Kaede wouldn’t be the one to say that either, probably just as curious as Kaito but not as blunt with her words... Shuichi’s embarrassment rose with Kaito’s finger guns. He then nodded softly, “ Y-Yeah, I did...” Shuichi mumbled. 

Kaede smiled brightly, looking at Shuichi with a happy expression, “ Good for you Shuichi!” She spoke, “ Where did you guys go?”

Shuichi was relived that Kaede didn’t ask who it was with, but knew that question was probably coming soon. But for now, he answered the question at hand. “ Oh, w... we went to Kit’s.”

Kaito's purple brows raised in question, " Wait, ain't that that kid place? You best not be hittin' on someone much younger than ya'... Oh who am I kiddin', ya' wouldn't pull that shit, 'cuz if ya' did, you'd get kicked out for sure." Thanks Kaito... Thanks for that thought... He scratched the side of his nose for a moment, " But anyways it's good to know you're doin' pretty well, I mean, hell, gettin' along with someone within just a couple of weeks. That's my sidekick!" He let out a bright grin and thumbs up, happy for his childhood friend from moving out into the world from his old shell that surely would have dragged him down by now.

Shuichi smiled softly from Kaito’s encouragement, happy that he could make Kaito so... proud? But, nonetheless it made Shuichi feel good. However, the good feeling faded away fast when Kaede had asked Shuichi a question with a playful smile on her face, “ Soooo, Shuichi! Who did you go out with?”

Shuichi widened his eyes, the blush returning to his face once again as he glanced off to the side. He knew Kokichi wasn’t really well revived in the first place, but if he told the two about what happened...Shuichi didn’t know how the two would react, “ W-Well...” Shuichi spoke softly, pausing to think.

Even Kaito for all his goofiness and curiosity didn't cross the line, thinking it was some moral code to men, " Kaede, Kaede, we ain't ya' girly friends. We guys have a sworn oath not to ask... Well I mean unless some guy decides to tell. But we shouldn't pry to much, 'specially with Shuichi-ehh, no offense." He waved a hand, giving a nervous smile. It wasn't like it wasn't true, they knew how reclusive and shy he could be. Besides he was still effectively growing out from his shell. Maybe from such an eventful day he should lay down.

Shuichi was so relived that Kaito had pretty much defended him from the question that Kaede had asked, however not remembering being under any form of sworn oath related to it... this was one of those occasions where Kaito’s ramblings actually had helped... Kaede sighed softly, looking at the both of them, “ Fine, I guess it’ll be a secret then.” She then smiled, looking at Shuichi with a bigger smile. 

Shuichi didn’t know why... but it felt like Kaede really wanted to know. Just from the way her smile looked. But, right now the only thing Shuichi really wanted to do was go upstairs and process the information he had gotten today. So, he started to walk out of the room, “ W-Well, I’m going to go upstairs and try and rest.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several months had gone by, maybe a year, it had been hard to keep a track of, but Shuichi was here either way. Large men in clean white shirts watched over the detective, directing him to a room down florescent lit hallways to a particular room. The window that let viewers peek in was currently closed and the cameras outside the room gleamed over Shuichi as one man led the detective to the door, giving him a device, " Here, if he gets hostile, press this and we'll be in faster than a heartbeat." The man instructed before opening a secured door. Inside was the detective's first arrest in the quiet town nearby the facility. The once proud leader of D.I.C.E. sat there in a colored room of rainbow pads so he wouldn't go more insane due to reports of if seeing nothing but white could drive someone further into insanity. Kokichi leaned against one of the padded walls, swaddled in a tight jacket, showing off how skinny he was while a chain held the arms in place behind him, connected to the wall, to thick to have him choke himself out, but small enough to not injure himself on. He hadn't even noticed the other walk in, keeping his focus on the floor.

Shuichi felt his chest tighten at the sight of Kokichi, how helpless and how...weak, he looked. The detective’s hand shook, the device between his fingers shaking along with it as he was frozen in place just after the doorway. As the door shut behind him, Shuichi opened his mouth to say something. “ K... Kokichi...” He muttered out weakly, not knowing what else to say.

The purple haired boy looked up before peering back down. A subtle shudder went through his body. He soon got up and walked as far as the chain behind him would let him, tilting his head back up with tired eyes and a maniacal twisted grin, " My dear Mister Detective~! Nishsishi-It's so good to see you!" He rocked on his toes letting the chain move him left and right, " What do I owe the pleasure of seeing you, hmm?" He cooed out before his grin widened from ear to ear. " Hehehe-is this not good enough for you? You've managed to catch me~! And now I'm paying for what I've done and you get rewarded, isn't that what people of the law want?" He giggled more unstably, " You know they say a good guy needs to win all the time but the bad guy only needs to win once. Does that make you the good guy or the bad guy?" He tilted his head, erratic and manic eyes watching Shuichi's movements.

Shuichi looked at Kokichi, his twisted and maniacal facial expressions, the unstable demeanor surrounding his words...this is the last place, the last way, Shuichi wanted to see Kokichi in. “ Th.... This...” Shuich stammered out, shaking his head and closing his eyes while hanging his head towards the ground, “ This wasn’t supposed to happen... it wasn't supposed to end up like this.” Shuichi spoke shakily, opening his eyes but refusing to let himself look at Kokichi. He just... couldn’t believe it. “ I-If your saying is really true, then... then I’m the bad guy. I never would’ve let this happen...”

Kokichi only laughed as if it were some crude joke, his instability seeping through, " Ahahaha! Detective, don't you know this is what happens when you catch the perp? Nishsi-W-Why should I matter? I broke the rules, teased the authority, given no care what so ever~! Hehehe..." He went onto the back of his heels, curling up in on himself, " It's fine being here. I'm like a goldfish you can always check up on~! I've got everything I need-hehehe-No friends, no family, no hopes, no dreams, no freedom... Only despair." He began to shake under the jacket that restrained him from hardly moving. " That's not true. Only thing I've got left is seeing you. But I wonder... What'll happen if you're transferred, would I never see you again? What if something happens to you in the line of work, would I just be waiting for nothing? What... What if you find someone special? Would... Would you forget me?"

Shuichi felt so distraught at the moment, the whole scene unfolding before him was despair inducing. This is the opposite of what Shuichi wanted to Kokichi to have. He wanted him to have friends, family, hopes, dreams, freedom... The detective stepped closer to Kokichi, trying to get closer to him. “ I wouldn’t ever forget you, Kokichi!” He pleaded his case, “ I won’t ever forget about you! I’ll find a way to get you out of this... this lie! I... I’ll find the truth, for the both of us. I promise...” Seeing Kokichi like this had brought Shuichi to a mental low point, practically to the point where he was really close to crying for the purple haired boy. Shuichi stepped closer, reaching his arms forward to hug Kokichi, “ I’ll get you out of here...”

The one who was suppose to be at a low mental point froze up upon touch, brain unresponsive on the matter. Touch wasn't a thing the captured leader enjoyed too much. After he was locked away, it only meant pain or more restriction. What was worse the detective holding him had read all about the broken state he was in, fearing any form of close interaction. Kokichi soon went limp, leaning against him. His masks had broken so easily now when Shuichi was with him in the room. He gave out a quite sob, " Why do insist caring about me?"

Shuichi had heard the quiet sob that came from Kokichi, being able to feel just from Kokichi’s reaction how he had no defenses left to put up. This just made Shuichi’s heart break even more. Despite knowing how sensitive Kokichi was to touch at this point, the detective couldn’t help but keep holding onto him, desperate, like how at any moment the Kokichi he knew would slip away into the rainbow colored walls. Shuichi took a deep breath, steadying his emotions before speaking, “ B-Because...” His voice cracked softly, the purple haired boy’s sob causing tears to silently run down Shuichi’s face, “I can’t just n... not care about you. It’s because... because you’re the one who pulled me in so I’ll help pull you out..”

At this point the detective could feel the warmth of the tears soak into his shirt, quickly turning cold from the chilled air. The constant troublemaker shattered from the truth Shuichi gave him, in hopes of helping him understand. Kokichi understood... A little too much for his own good, " I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" For once the purple haired boy apologized. Apologized for dragging Shuichi into his whole fuck up of a life and existence. His knees wobbled until thy gave in, going completely limp as a rag-doll in the soft grasp. He just kept repeating the sentence over and over like a broken record from an antique shop. A tired head settled on Shuichi's shoulder while he made no attempt to move.

Shuichi had slowly lowered himself to the floor with Kokichi as the other’s knees buckled under the intense emotional pressure, holding the broken boy close to him as he listened to the constant apologizing over and over and over again. Shuichi closed his eyes tightly, holding onto Kokichi as best as he could before speaking, “ Please, don’t apologize anymore. I’m glad that you pulled me in.” Shuichi spoke softly and sincerely, “ Without you, I’d still be hiding behind a cap and barely able to form sentences without a stutter... I’m sorry for not being able to prevent you from ending up here, in this room. It’s all my fault.”

Kokichi eventually settled down from the constant fear, emotion, and paranoia keeping him from sleeping relatively peacefully. He closed his eyes and rested against Shuichi, lowering his cries to a small burst of quiet dazed hiccups... Something clipped through Shuichi's eyelids. There was something bright in the room, like when you close your eyes t avid the sun, the red hue still clashing against the skin. When he opened them, they were met with a right red eye of tat bear Kokichi had held onto so dearly before Haiji took it into evidence. The bear slumped in the corner before moving it's head on it's own. It's grin was full of sharp teeth instead of velvet while whirring red circles zoomed in on Shuichi, " Ehehehe, at least you admit it." It's voice was rather whimsical yet disturbing at the same time.

Shuichi had widened his eyes when he had saw the bear slumped in the corner actually start to move it’s head and talk. He kept holding onto Kokichi as he looked at it, the bright red light coming from the bear’s eye only adding to the effect the sharp teeth was were having on his confidence. Shuichi nodded softly towards the bear, actually attempting to speak with the now animate object, “ Yeah... it is all my fault.” He repeated again.

The bear got up on it's stubby legs, smile growing more to show off the razor teeth that were now somehow stitched into it's fabric, " You should be cautious on what you do to find the truth Shuichi~!" It blurted out his name, struggling to keep itself from laughing, it's stumpy paws on it's stomach before putting the paws to it's mouth. " I'd start asking around if I were you. The Thorny Tower, The Zoo of Horrors, The Core of Power, The Dungeon of Product, The Palace of Knowledge, The Path of Risk, The Hall of Records, and the guy from The Pit of Despair~! Upupupupu~!" It's laughter spewed out as it unhanded it's muzzle, laughter of the utmost vileness deafening the entire room. Finally it's paws grew claws, and it's size grew bigger more jagged and twisted with an elongated neck jutting out with thin sickly arms while it's belly swelled up. Before it could reach the detective, he found himself on the floor in his room.

Shuichi’s eyes flew open, his breaths quick as he gazed up towards the ceiling of his room feeling the back of his head throbbing in pain. He slowly sat up from the spot on the floor, realizing that he had been laying on his chair that had tipped over onto the ground. How did he get here again? Shuichi realized he must have been working when he had fell asleep at his desk, and the nightmare that he had must have made him tip back in his chair. He looked around the room, realizing everything was just a little blurry. He wiped his eyes, seeing tears pool on the back of his hand. That dream- no, nightmare was really bad... but it also gave Shuichi a new perspective. He had to go about getting all his information in a way that wouldn’t put Kokichi at risk. If that meant investigating outside of his detective work with Hajime, so be it. He would just have to find a way to sneak away from Hajime, so he wouldn’t be able to learn anything detrimental and price everything together. Like he did before with just that one piece of information. The navy haired boy wouldn’t let that happen to Kokichi in real life, ever...it made his heart hurt just thinking about it. Along with his head. Shuichi reached back, tenderly touching the back of his head. He looked at the fingers that had touched his scalp, noting that there was nothing on there. That’s a good sign. The fall from the nightmare was too hard then...

Suddenly his door shot open, foot right there in the middle, sticking out from it's owner who stood right out the door. It belonged to the normally quiet and seemingly angered girl, Maki. Kaito ran over, flopping around and tripping over himself before he with Kaede managed to make it to the entrance of his room. The purple spiked hair male rushed in and slid to his knees, not caring that one knee collided with the post of Shuichi's bed along the way. " Shit, Shuichi, ya' okay?! We heard a yelp n' thud n'-... And... Y-You okay buddy?" Kaito placed a hand on Shuichi's back as lightly as possible to help him reel himself back into reality. " Ya' cryin'..." Kaito frowned, highly concerned for his childhood friend.

Kaede had went into the room quickly, kneeling down next to him with a look of great concern while Kaito had asked him if he was okay. Shuichi blinked, surprised that all three of them would suddenly come rushing into his room, but knew that their concern was warranted... He looked at them after wiping his eyes quickly again, giving them a soft and weary smile. “ I-It’s Okay,” He began to reply softly, “ It was just a nightmare...”

Kaede still had a worried look on her face, “ It sounded like a bad nightmare from all the noise we heard...”

" Bad nightmare-more like a nightmare spawned outta' hell!" Kaito blurted out, not meaning to yell out, but it was Kaito after all... Subtly was never his specialty.

Maki gave a look and walked into the room, " Kaito, indoor voice..."

The spiked up hair rubbed the back of his neck a bit, " Heh, s-sorry. Anyways Shuichi, you're with friends, you're gonna' be okay. Just keep striving on and dun' let that nightmare fuss with ya' head any!" With a sigh, Maki put her palm to her face, she had just told the boisterous male to quiet it down.

Shuichi looked over at Kaito. Even though he had been a little too loud and enthusiastic about it, Kaito’s words had cheered him up somewhat. He gave Kaito another small smile, nodding at his statement, “ Yeah, I will.” He replied.

Kaede looked at Shuichi and scooted closer, “ Now that we have that out of the way, are you physically okay? That like a pretty big fall.”

Shuichi gave the blonde girl a small and reassuring smile, “ I... I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine on that part. The only thing that seems to hurt, really, is my head.”

The silent girl knelt besides Kaito, pushing him out of the way, making him bump his head on the side of Shuichi's bed in turn, making him whine out, " Oh quiet, you're fine, go take your medication." When the only retort she got was grumbling she gave her deathly stare, " Do you want to die?" He grumbled, getting up and showing himself out the room. Maki rolled her eyes lightly before pushing some of the navy blue hair around, " It's just a bump. It shouldn't be too bad. If it starts to hurt or if it makes you feel dizzy, please notify someone and not ignore it like your food, got it?"

Shuichi looked at Maki, the comment about ignoring his food shooting through him like an arrow to the chest. He gave a small and guilty smile to Maki before nodding slightly and replying, “ Y-Yeah...”

Kaede then looked at Shuichi, grinning brightly, “ Speaking of food! You should come down and eat! I don’t remember you eating anything last night, actually... unless you went down to the kitchen to get something in the middle of the night.”

" I doubt it, no offense." Maki said, getting up and folding her arms like a grouchy parent telling off their kid. After a while once Shuichi had eaten a bit and regained himself from the bleak and desolate nightmare, the bear's words cam coming around on where to ask questions, throwing in it's own cryptic vibe that Shuichi had heard from Ryoma the previous day. Either he would need to drag Hajime along or sneak by himself... Though if it came to his new partner, he could ask if D.I.C.E had struck those places before, gathering information or just saying he thinks that D.I.C.E. was involved somehow... This would be tricky.

Shuichi sat at the table as he thought about what to do today in regards to gathering information... he could ask for a list of all of the places that D.I.C.E had struck...? But, if that wasn’t possible he’d either have to ask him about those places or go there himself to try and gather some information. Maybe he could use the bump on his head as an excuse to ‘go home’ early. He didn’t want Hajime to come to a big conclusion again, after all. He didn’t want his nightmare to come true... Though without Hajime, getting into The Path of Risk, which was more than likely the Yakuza's territory would be rather... Hard to get by. Let alone talk with their boss. That and getting into the Mayor's office to get a pass to see Tengan's factory. There had to be some way... Maybe telling the brunette that a member told him to go to those places considering they liked to toy with the cops so much. Haiji seemed like the type of man if they were caught off of work for more than two days, he would not be a happy camper... Shuichi had strained his thoughts to try and come up with a good way to try and convince Hajime that they had needed to go there for the investigation, but the only plan he could come up with is that telling him a D.I.C.E member told him to search there for the tiara or something... maybe that would work? And if Hajime didn’t seem convinced, he could just try and convince him that they should at least investigate at the places just In case... Shuichi sighed softly, putting his face in his hands that were propped up by his elbows resting on the table. After not feeling well rested as a result from his nightmare last night, today was probably going to be a struggle to keep up with...

Once his friends had departed for their own work, Hajime rode in and let Shuichi into the warmth of air the car produced, showering away any bitter coldness that still lingered on him. " Hey Shuichi... So uh..." He rushed the back of his neck, scratching against some of the brown hair before coughing and starting the car up, " H-How'd it go yesterday?" Honestly... Now could be the time to ask about the murders. It didn't have much to do with D.I.C.E., but it could always fall under the category that D.I.C.E. was made so that the murders would stop... Again the crime had gone down since they appeared.

Shuichi looked over at Hajime, noticing the stutter in his question. He looked over towards the brown haired detective, a small smile on his face, “ I... It went fine.” He responded, thinking about if he should bring anything up to Hajime yet. It... it might be good to mention it after their usual trip to the diner, before they went anywhere to investigate. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

" Whew, good to hear." He let out a breath of relief, " Again, not a bad guy, but just... He gets under the skin. I'm just kinda' surprised that it went well and you're not pissed or something is all." He gave the fellow detective a small smile before going on, " Mmm, feeling a bit better considering how I felt yesterday... Are you okay? Your cheeks are kind of... Freckled. Blood blisters break out when you cry a lot."

Shuichi widened his eyes, not even noticing that his cheeks were like that. And slightly surprised that none of his roommates pointed it out to him before they had left for the day... Shuichi used a nervous smile to cover it up, scratching his cheek softly with a single finger, “ O-Oh, um, I’m okay!” He replied. “ I... It’s no big deal or anything.” He really hoped the freckled look on his face went away by the time they got to the diner...

Hajime gave a pat on Shuichi's shoulder, " Hey, hey, calm down. It'll be okay. The only people who will notice is those who now that little trick-" He paused and sighed out, " Shit, Kokichi... Well seeing as you guys had a good day yesterday, I'm sure he won't notice... Hopefully." He gave a nervous chuckle before sighing out again, not looking forward to dealing with the goblin. He pulled in and stepped out, getting the door for Shuichi, " After you." Shuichi stepped out of the car with Hajime, smiling softly as Hajime had opened the door for him to go inside. Shuichi stepped inside the diner, the heating system warming his body up from being out in the cold for just a few seconds.

Once they were both inside, Teruteru was the first to see them through the kitchen window, “ Hey you two! Pleasure to see you back today? The usual's?”

Hajime nodded, taking his usual seat, " Good to see you too. Normal and uhh... Could you fetch Shuichi some coffee, he's kind of tired today." He gave a small smile, patting the back of his fellow detective. Of course another detective could see besides the crying that he hadn't gotten enough sleep, or rather flopped about like a trout in his dreams instead. Either one was the case Hajime could boil it down to, and he needed an active partner to help aid him anyways.

It wasn't long until the small purple gremlin skated over to Shuichi's side, toothy grin and energetic eyes sparkle, " Heeey Mister Detective~! Good morning, nishishi~!"

Teruteru was already on the usual order, plus another coffee as Shuichi sat down next to Hajime before Kokichi had skated over to his side. Shuichi gave a small smile to Kokichi, his big grin and sparkling eyes were... refreshing to say the least. After his nightmare last night, seeing Kokichi like this made him feel much better about the whole thing. But he also recalled yesterday when he had walked Kokichi back to his place, so there was a light blush covering his already freckled and tired-looking face. “ Good morning, Kokichi,” He spoke happily, a smile still on his face.

The ever persistent Kokichi began his onslaught of curiosity, " Haw? What's with the tired and weepy face? Did Haiji run ya' ragged for going off duty yesterday~?"

Hajime gave his daily sigh, " No, in fact I wasn't feeling well yesterday so I let Kiibo know who told him for me."

Kokichi went quiet before tapping a finger onto the cleaned counter, " Sooo... Did you say he was with me like a big tattle tail~?"

" Ugh, no. If I did he'd have a conniption, now can you please settle do-"

The purple haired boy interrupted the detective as he leaned on Shuichi, giving him a hug, this in turn making Hajime gawk for a moment. Kokichi gave him a slick smile, challenging the other. Hajime shot a glare at him, curling his mouth into a snarl, " Shuichi...?"

Shuichi blinked softly when Kokichi had suddenly gave him a hug, not really expecting it so suddenly out of the blue. Sure, the hug was kind of nice... but in the context it was being used in wasn’t really all that great. Shuichi sighed softly, looking at Hajime with a nervous smile, “ I-It’s okay” he then looked back towards, “ A.... And Kokichi, I‘m glad you hugged me, but I don’t really like the fact you’re using it to upset Hajime too.”

The smaller boy let go and put on the waterworks, looking like a kicked puppy, " But I wasn't, I just wanted to give a thanks for going out with me yesterday." He even puckered his lips to a quiver... Oh boy.

Hajime wasn't having it, " Kokichi... Just stop while you're ahead. It'll be easier for all of us."

With that, Kokichi gave a pout that turned into a sneer, " Tch fiiiine." he sighed out, putting his dainty hands behind his head and taking the opportunity to skate off into the kitchen. " Anyways..." Now was another good time to tell his partner, with both workers now out of sight and hearing distance of a whisper.

Shuichi looked at Kokichi as he skated off into the kitchen, hoping that he really didn’t hurt the other’s feelings. But, it might have just been a lie as well. The navy haired detective then focused on the task at hand, deciding that he was going to use his story on Hajime now. Shuichi leaned in towards the superior detective, looking towards him and whispering quietly, “ I... I have more places that I think we should check out. A D.I.C.E member told me a list of places where they ‘might have’ hid the tiara... they gave it all in riddles, but I managed to figure out where they all are.”

This immediately caught Hajime's attention as his eyes widened a bit, quickly looking over to his partner. They really enjoyed fucking with the new guy didn't they? Course Hajime wouldn't ask or dare say that near or even behind Shuichi's back. He'd just keep it in his head, nodding, " Of course. It's all a game... Alright. Give me the list of these places." He got out his notebook and pen, ready to write down the given information. Once it was finished, he reviewed over what he had just jotted down onto the yellow paper, furrowing his brows. " Hrm... So, Tengan's mansion, the sanctuary zoo, mayor's office, the factory on the hill, the library, the department's records, the local Yakuza, and the institution again... Mighty big list, but it'll help."

Shuichi nodded softly, really glad that Hajime didn’t question his story at all and would agree to go to the list of places. This would be a really big help in getting information about Kokichi... even if he felt bad about lying to Hajime. “ Yeah,” he spoke, agreeing with Hajime’s words.

Hajime adjusted himself in his seat, cracking a few bones to pop, making it more comfortable and to ready himself up for today, " Alright, so where to first? I'll let you pick for once." Each stop could be important, but some were a bit more pressing then others.

Shuichi thought for a moment, weighing all of his options to try and figure out where they should go first. Maybe he should save big places like Tengan’s mansion and the Mayor’s office for last...? Or should those be the first things to go to? Shuichi thought for a moment, seeming submersed in his thought process. “ I think... let’s go to the library first? The smaller places we should get out of the way first.”

Hajime nodded and right after Kokichi came back to the pair of detectives with their usual, setting the plates and cups down on the smooth granite counter. The sleazy smirk filled his face, his violet eyes watching Shuichi and Hajime both rather closely, " I'll see you later Mister Detective~." He said, getting his backpack from behind the counter with that bear popping it's head out of the back, staring at Shuichi. It looked harmless enough and more than likely was... But that nightmare made it unnerving. 

The brunette peeked over, " Hey, hey, what's with all the toys overflowing? Did you steal them?"

Kokichi looked at some toys poking out along the bear, sticking a tongue to Hajime, " No! I won them fair and square! Now unless you want to keep me waiting and not let me give these to the kids at the orphanage, I suggest you don't assume what you don't know." He wagged a finger, skating out from the doors, letting Hajime give off a faint grumble.

Shuichi found that the fact that Kokichi’s as going to give the toys he had gotten yesterday to the kids at the orphanage. Even though he liked to push others buttons and mess with them, Shuichi knew that Kokichi had a good heart and good intentions. The navy haired boy watched Kokichi skate out the doors with an endearing smile on his face before turning to look at Hajime as he grumbled. Shuichi’s smile turned that to one of nervousness as he told Hajime, “ H... He did actually win those honestly.”

Hajime leaned back taking in his morning coffee, " I know. I've seen him out skill the games over at Kit's when I got called for a kidnapping. Now the place is full of security and cameras ever since. Don't worry, we found the kid. The father wanted the kid when his wife left due to some illegal matters. I swear id Kokichi hadn't had a home, he'd live at that place." That... Wasn't far off from what the Gothic manager entailed Shuichi with. Sometimes Kokichi would break in just to sleep at the top of the tubing and jungle gyms... Wonder why he'd do that if he had a home, a room, and whatever his bed was.

Shuichi certainly agreed with Hajime’s words, even from his own experience around Kokichi at Kit’s as well. He was much more... honest, himself, vulnerable, when he was there. It might be because he had went there with his mother, whom he cherished a lot. Maybe it was...his only ‘safe place’ left. It would be pretty understandable. Shuichi nodded towards Hajime’s words, replying with a simple, “ Mhm.” Before confining, “ When I was with him there yesterday, he seemed to be a lot more relaxed.”

Hajime began to chew on his delicately made food, sending his taste buds to heaven as he listened. He swallowed down the mouthful and took another sip, " Yeah. I had the same interaction. Much more humble, soothed, normal happy, not that creepy smile happy. Only problem I had was that he seemed much more defensive, but no in abrasive way like he always is. More of a like... A" He tried to think up of an appropriate analogy, " A scared rabbit in a corner. Whenever I got near he tensed up and avoided me like the plague. Could be some type of trauma trying to revert himself back to a kid, not sure though."

Shuichi listened to Hajime as he picked at his meal, nodding softly and listening to his description of Kokichi at Kit’s. He... He defiantly saw the scared rabbit side of Kokichi. When he had kept pressing him over and over again, and finally when he had cornered him mentally... It was like a scared rabbit. But the feeling he got there, enough to change his whole personality, must be linked to him trying to get past the trauma he’s faced. Maybe detectives were apart of that as well? Shuichi wasn’t sure. But his reaction to Hajime while he was there may prove useful to understanding him a bit more. “ He seemed to be more happy to me too. He didn’t really avoid me though, probably because I’m the one who took him there... but I could tell when I had talked about things I shouldn’t have talked about.” Shuichi sighed, “ It’s just that when I think I’ve gotten closer to him, I learn a new aspect about him that throws a wrench in things. A... A part of me hopes that doesn’t happen this time again, but I’m almost positive it will. I’ve gotten closer to him so something will happen that’ll try to push me away.” He then blinked, noticing he kind of just spilled all of his thoughts out to the superior detective. He gave Hajime an apologetic smile, “ S-Sorry, I kind of went off there...”

The slightly older detective gave a reassuring smile, " Hey, hey, it's okay, really... I mean at first I was pretty skeptical and thought your were nearly insane wanting to get to know him. I'll admit, he's an interesting character, but he didn't take a liking to me, and instead his roommate did..." He trailed off shuddering a bit, " But enough of that talk. I can clearly see you actually want to know him and help him which is good. The kid needs it. From what I've noticed he avoids actual therapy, consoling, medication, so I guess being there for him helps instead. Not sure why he picked you out of all people... Probably due to the fact your new, don't know about the town and aren't a 'stick in the mud' like me." He chucked.

Shuichi smiled, feeling better with the help of Hajime’s reassurances. The navy haired boy was happy to be there for the purple haired troublemaker when he had no one else to go to to try and break into his trauma and comfort him about it. He looked towards Hajime, nodding “Thank you, Hajime.” He spoke with gratitude towards the superior detective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically an old drawing I did of Monokuma is the dream one (The one at the bottom)  
> https://www.deviantart.com/myuuthemew/art/Hot-Monokuma-722747375  
> Again, it's an old AU Ask log that isn't active most of the time-especially since Tumblr nearly killed itself


	28. All I've Ever Known, Is The Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Fukawa... Why are you so weird to write?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No joke, my downtown library has like 4 floors, or 5, I forget... shits insane

The patrol car roughed through the snow below, squashing against the ice as Hajime finally stopped to a large building, nicely decorated on the outside, stairs and handicap ramps leading up to large wooden doors. Hajime parked and walked up the stairs, blowing into his hands, rubbing them to shake off the chill in the air. Inside Shuichi's eyes were met with the three to four story innards of a library with with books on display, stairs, elevators, ramps and books galore. The insides were decorated with fine art-if you could call it that while sections were split off straining from comics, manga, fiction, history, audio-books, and much more including bargain deals for movies. Shuichi looked around as he walked into the library, slightly amazed by all of the books and floors in the place. He probably would have come here on his own a couple of times before if he wasn’t so busy since he had got to this town. Something about seeing the innards of a library made the child-like part of Shuichi ecstatic. However, he shook himself out of his thoughts. He had to get it together, he wasn’t here for the books, he was here to get more information about Kokichi. 

" I'm going to go look for some possible clues or leads. If you want to know about the town's past history I suggest talking to one Fukawa Toko. And yes... She's THAT Fukawa Toko, the one who wrote all those novels like 'So Lingers the Ocean'. Don't be all fan-mode if you enjoy her novels, you'll spook her. She moved here, getting some money with signing things for tourists, but she wants a relatively peaceful place to live." With that he walked off to take a look around, taking one of the escalators. Shuichi watched as Hajime walked off to take a look around, the author’s name ringing in his mind. Fukawa Toko? He’s read everyone of the books she’s written and is a bag fan of them... but he’d have to quell the inner fanboy, like Hajime said. He certainly didn’t want to scare her off, when she could provide some useful info. Shuichi started to walk through the Library, feeling like he was swimming through a sea of books to find the author he was looking for. Luck was defiantly on Shuchi's side today, maybe to make up for such a torturous nightmare filled to the brim with black essence of pure despair. Right as he rode one of the few escalators, he bumped into said author who was passing the two flowing stairs. She let out a screech out covered he mouth in time not to draw too much attention. Hajime silently rolled his eyes, " Yup, he found her..." He commented to himself. 

The girl got up, viciously snatching up the papers she dropped. The glasses fumbled to keep up with her rapid turning to find more papers as she shoved them into a shaky arm, " Dammit..." 

Shuichi blinked, immediately going to help her trying to pick him her papers frantically. He had knelled down in the floor, beginning to pick up the papers and put them in a neat pile. Once he had gotten all of the papers of the floor, with her help, he had handed the papers to her with an apologetic smile on his face. “ I’m really truly sorry for bumping into you..!” 

Unlike most people she quickly grabbed the papers from him, managing to give him a nasty paper-cut over the close to being healed wound on his hand. It hadn't needed a bandage for a while but... Looks like he'd need one again, hooray... " W-Well maybe if you'd watch where you were going! O-Or am I just that invisible t-to a jerk like you?! Don't mess with me asshole! Hrmf, even better, you look new." She grumbled, getting up from the floor and made a squeak upon seeing his hand, " A-Ahh! Y-You're hand is bleeding!" Her eye twitched, " U-Urgggh, just my luck... I run into the one idiot who doesn't know the place. " She huffed out, her eyes shifting away, " F-Follow me and I'll give you something t-to cover it." She grumbled bitterly, leading him off. Shuichi was overwhelmed by her... less than a polite attitude after being bumped into to, but the sting from the paper cut that had re-opened he wound on his hand brought him back to reality and saw that she was starting to lead him to somewhere to cover his hand up. The detective quickly followed suit, a nervous look on his face as he followed. He really hoped he didn’t make that bad of a first impression, it would make it really hard to get information... and it would also be a little disappointing. 

In the the nurse ward-or rather... A small office that supplied a medical kit, Fukawa muttered with annoyance and tossed Shuichi a large band-aid, some cotton and a small bottle of soap. " Lets hope y-you know how to swab a cut, because I am not getting near that!" She snapped out a bit, setting the half sorted and half mess of papers onto a wooden desk. In the middle of the sting of washing his new cut, drying it off and applying the new bandage, the rude girl watched him, raising a brow, " Tourist I'd take it?" 

Shuichi had looked up at her, flinching softly as he had wiped the top of the cut after washing it off and disinfecting it. He then gave an awkward smile, looking at her and shaking his head in response. “ U-Um, no, actually...” He began to speak, “ I-I’m a new detective...” 

The snappish yet timid girl backed up and got behind the table, grabbing the top of the chair behind it, " O-Oh hell no! Y-You're not taking me back to that dump! I mean... Yeah the food was good, a clean sanitary, place to sleep, most people didn't bother me-B-But that's besides the point! I-I might deserve it because I'm so messed up and ugly enough to fit there, but I've gotten better! I-I told that old dirty mole man n-not to check up on me!" She went into a defensive stance of a highly strung pissed off cat. 

Shuichi widened his eyes when she had suddenly tried to barricade herself away from him, now really confused about what history she’s had with the police. “ U-Um...” Shuichi spoke sheepishly, trying to calm her down. “ Y... You’ve got it wrong, I’m not here for you! I’m here for a completely different case!” 

Right as she picked up a book to throw at the new detective she stopped and squinted, still with a snarl on her face, " O-Oh r-right, sure. And what makes you think I should believe you?! If you're really here about something else just spit it out already, jeez!" 

Shuichi widened his eyes, not really thinking she’d become even more hostile when he mentioned that he was a detective... This certainly was going to be difficult when the person he wanted to question was ready to throw a book at him... The navy haired detective took a deep breath, trying to regain his confidence, “ I-I was just here to ask you about what you know about this town! N... Not for bringing you in or anything!” 

She settled the book down still giving a rather disdain look on her face, giving out a sigh she lowered her posture from defensive to just hostile, having her hands scramble around her hair, " Ugh, fine... I guess I'm... sorry? I don't like getting worked up like this. Ever since my therapy I've been rather paranoid. E-Even more paranoid than I was before... So w-what the hell do you want to know about? Why me? C-Couldn't find a pretty girl to ask, so you'd rather go ask a-a rat like me?" 

Shuichi was glad that she had seemed to calm down a little bit, making his thought process calm down a bit as well. He tried to give a comforting smile, but it came out as kind of nervous anyway. “ W-Well...” he began to speak, “ I think you’d be a really good source of accounts and opinions and information... just about general things about the town, major events that have happened here, maybe some things about the gang D.I.C.E.” 

She gave a bored look and squint like he was some random idiot asking the time of day when they had a functioning watch slapped on their wrist, " ... Oh yes, because I know 'alllllllll' about those jokers. I know fully well about all of them, let me just get my imaginary notebook and dream journal out so I can give you a vivid explanation on what they do. Flip, flip, flip, oh here they are-they like to piss people off and people like you like wasting my time with petty questions! Go ask that weird creeper whose as ugly as me in the damn back end of the library!" ... Well this was going nowhere... Then something propped into his head, didn't he hear that she was in the institution? 

Shuichi... really didn’t know how he felt about the wave of sarcasm that had come his way followed by an aggressive statement. For a moment, he didn’t really know how to react, but this gave him more time to think about what she had mentioned about therapy. This might help him...he cleared his throat before speaking “ W-Well, um...” He began, “ You mentioned something about therapy? Did you by chance go to therapy at the institution in this town?” 

She perked up a bit but with a scowl, " Y-yeah... D-Did that mole man of a captain t-tell you that? Urrrgh-He probably told you everything I did knowing my luck." She frowned, clutching her arms together before sighing out loudly, " J-Just so you know I've gotten better. S-So there's no need to tell that dirty mole man anything." She nervously looked to the side, still in a rather grouchy slump. 

Shuichi raised a brow, wondering what she could have done to get the attention of some of the higher ups of the police... and to need therapy about it to boot. “ Well...” the navy haired detective started to reply, “ I-I actually don’t know anything about your record concerning the police...” 

The novelist squinted before getting up from behind her barricade and slowly walking to Shuichi, looking him up and down, sizing him up, " ... Wow, he didn't tell you anything? Tch, keeping his priorities in line I guess..." She relaxed herself-if only by a fraction and huffed out, " This might be easier to say then considering that mole man isn't here to make me out to be s-some heathen banshee. But once you know..." She got a faint smirk, " Then you'll leave me alone." She awkwardly pushed her pointer fingers to one another and smiled, " Yeah, you'll leave me alone and then you'd be so scared that you won't contact Haiji, and he won't have to call Master~." She began to salivate a bit before snapping herself out of her thoughts. She quickly wiped it away with an arm and looked to him, " Anyways, yeah, I had to go to the place nearby." 

The detective was trying to get a hold on her personality, but it just swung around so much that he didn’t really know how to talk to her...he hoped that it was working. And who was this ‘Master’...? Shuichi internally sighed, deciding to go back to more important topics and trying to coax more information out of her. If it was something that Haiji was involved in, it would be something he wanted to know. “ W-Well... why don’t you tell me, then?” He asked, gaining confidence, “ Let’s see if you can get me to leave you alone.” 

Her eyes went sharp again, a frown building, " Y-You had better! Okay, let's see... I was diagnosed with D.I.D., so I have a split personality-thankfully none of that information has gotten out to the public. I actually have a competent publisher who can at the very least bribe people to keep hush-hush about it. But besides that, if I sneeze I'll change, o-or if I pass out, e-especially when it comes when to blood. Anything else?" 

Shuichi thought for a moment, trying to think of any other questions he would have, “ So...” He mumbled softly, “ H-How did your diagnosis invoke the interest of Haiji?” It had to be something about her other personality that caught the attention of Haiji... 

" U-Uhhhm..." She shrunk down a bit from her usual aggression before shifting her eyes about and looking to a camera in the corner, though they hadn't been implemented to listening recorder. She slowly leaned to Shuich's ear and whispered out, " She's killed people..." She drew herself back into a hunched position, nervous again. 

After she had whispered in his ear, Shuichi had blinked softly. He certainly wasn’t expecting something like that...but at the same time he was. That would certainly attract Haiji’s attention. Shuichi, however, he wasn’t too scared of her to shoo away from questioning her more, “ Killed people...? Does she have an alias or a name?” 

She threw up her hands into her bundle of dark violet air, " HRRRNG! Y-Yes, but if you go out of-of your way to make my life more of a living hell I-I'm having a word with your damn boss! I fucking s-swear if your actually a paparazzi artist o-or stalker you won't h-have a tongue to talk with anymore!" She accused harshly at him... Seemed like the paparazzi would do anything to make a few couple of dollars for some rumor even if it was a fact. " You know what-no! I'm going to have someone back me up!" She said, grabbing his wrist and tugging him long until they reached another room. 

Shuichi stumbled slightly as his hand was pulled, forcing him to follow her. He glanced around the room, looking at the young man in front of him and wondering how he would be ‘back up’. Without knocking she slapped the door open for Shuichi see another room like the previous but more office like. A young slender man at the table stopped from typing and turned to them both. The guy kind of looked like Korekiyo, only... that a bit of his tongue was sticking out. 

" Yasshiki! B-Back me up! This detective... Wants to know about 'HER'. I need some back up so he won't go around blurting shit, m-maybe he's actually journalist trying to make a quick buck!" 

The slim man sighed slightly before getting up. The man was much taller than Shuichi, his narrowed eyes staring straight into his soul just about. " ... Are you truly a detective and won't mention this to anyone trying to get some press coverage?" He asked, not managing to keep back a bit of a elongated tongue, yet somehow spoke perfectly. 

Shuichi widened his eyes as the slim man, whom he had just figured out was named Yasshiki, who had seemed to stare into his very being and certainly dominated in the height category... now the detective realized why she had gone to him for support... Opening his mouth to speak was easier than actually trying to get words to go past his lips, but Shuichi eventually stuttered out, " Y-Yes, I'm a d... detective..." He then reached into his jacket pocket, rifling through it to pull out his issued badge and showing it to the tall man in front of him. " See...?" he asked with a nervous smile. 

The man's eyes glazed over it, " Don't fret, there's no need to worry about showing things or trying to prove you're not lying..." Of all the freaky things to happen in this town, this was by far one of the-if not, THE WORST... Yasshiki gently gabbed Shuichi by the chin, leaned over and stuck out a surprisingly even longer tongue than Shuichi had just witnessed. This guy-did he just-yup... Yasshiki had just licked his cheek, unhanding him and going back to his stance, " Hrm... This is not the taste of a liar. He speaks the truth." He flicked his hand, turning around to go work on the computer's program he had opened up. 

Shuichi had remained completely frozen after he had just... after that had happened. He didn't really know how to react to that kind of invasion of the important space bubble. If it was someone he was close to... like Koki-.... anyway..... This was someone the anxious navy haired boy had just met, and on top of that he used the lick to determine if he was liar or not?! WHAT THE FU-He was just stunned into silence, opening his mouth to say something but nothing coming out but a stunned and soft, " O-Oh...." 

The girl gave a groan and slapped Shuichi with a baby wipe, " Here, clean it yourself, least I c-can do since everything I touch besides those just molds into horrible bacteria-" 

Yasshiki spoke up, " You know it really doesn't." 

" Sh-shut up! You know as well a-as I do that anything I touch j-just degrades!" She gave out a frustrated huff, " Anyways... S-She goes by Genocider Jack..." She folded her arms once more in a disapproving manner. Shuichi had heard and read up on Genocider Jack... They use to live in his city, then it was speculated they either died, or moved. So if they had moved, then the last appearance was here according to Ryoma! Piecing together this odd phenomenon meant, Fukawa had gone to the institution near a small town where not many people knew her, was reformed, but snapped only one time which was around three years ago. 

Shuichi had rubbed the baby wipe against his face where he had gotten licked as he pieced together where he had heard the name before in his mind, connecting it to past incidents and accounts he had gathered and making a sort of timeline in his mind. Now he had to just figure out more to put into this said timeline and how it connected with other accounts and cases. Shuichi was sure it connected, somehow. He then glanced over towards Fukawa after he had made sure he had gotten rid of all traces of the dreaded lick, continuing to question her. " Y... You said that Genocider Jack has killed people... do you know who she's killed? Also, where and when the killings took place exactly? Or vaguely?" 

" No, we don't share memories... That's another reason I brought you to him!" She gestured the other worker who simply gave a chilled half wave, still focusing his attention to the screen. " When I went to get r-reformed, the doctors there informed that mole of a man about me, j-just in case. I-I'd be living in this town a-away from the constant buzz of journalists, paparazzi, and what not. T-This place only has like only three damn journalists, a-and since it's a humble small town, they're not s-some shitty tabloids and rumors. Only reason Yasshiki here knows about u-us is because-" 

" She killed one of my brothers." He said, not deriving off from his constant typing, or expressing any sorrow. " Happened three years ago when I got sick of my brothers and moved here a year before. Daft bastard he was... Then again, the others were as well." 

Shuichi widened his eyes, remembering about what Ryoma had told him at Kit's about the set of brothers and how one of them had been killed off by Genocider Jack... So this was the brother that had informed the police that all of his brothers were hit-men... it would probably be more useful to get an account from Yasshiki, but he didn't know how to approach the subject. He seemed unaffected by the mention of his brother being murdered and even seemed to resent him and the others. So, it might just be okay to bluntly ask, right? " S... So, am I correct in assuming that the rest of your brothers were hit-men...? And that you confirmed this with authorities?" 

He nodded, still not seeming upset about the whole conversation, " Yes. All of them were hit-men. Tried to train me to be one, but I rather be here with the books and help people out by not snuffing out lives. The black sheep of the family you could say. I may be the youngest by a few seconds, but I'm sure I'm still the smartest." He continued, " Course they never told me who they'd be after, but Jack said they were going to kill a friend of hers." 

Fukawa pulled a chair out from another table and plopped into it, " I don't know how the hell 'she' could get a friend-I mean s-she's worse than me! And I can't even g-get one!" 

" Nonsense, you have three. I'm on of them." 

" M-Mind your own business!" She spat out, making Yasshiki gave a surprisingly cheery chuckle instead of a creepy one the detective would thought he'd have. 

Shuichi thought back to his conversation with Ryoma, recalling that he said that Kokichi knew Genocider Jack... does that make them friends? If so, it could all connect. The way that one of the brothers was looking for Kokichi at Kit's, and technically what Kokichi had told Ryoma could have been the truth... so it was highly possible that Kokichi was friends with Genocider Jack. Now, if he could just get a little more information about how this might all connect to Kokichi... Focusing on the subject at hand rather than the conversation the other to were sharing, Shuichi had brought up another question. " It's been suspected-" by Shuichi of course, along with the staff at Kit's "-that one of your brother's targets was someone named Ouma Kokichi... does the name ring a bell in regards to that?" 

The man gave a shrug, " No, I only vaguely know him since he comes in to harass Fukawa here. Again, I don't know much when it comes to hits. They never told me anything, just like the police. Why would a town citizen know anything about the crimes going about if it doesn't concern them right?" 

Fukawa nodded, " Yeah, a-and why are you letting u-us know? N-Not like we give a shit about that little bastard. Urrrgh! I would say I feel sorry about you knowing that little prick, but t-that could be a blessing in disguise! I'd much rather h-have him mess around with you then me a-anytime!" Shuichi gave off a sigh with a small smile when Fukawa had spoken badly about Kokichi. Sure, he'd heard it a lot before from various other people that he had talked to or knows but a part of him feels bad about it every time he hears it. But, he had to focus on information at the moment. Yasshiki didn't know anything about his brothers activities, which may be a major roadblock in knowing about the activity of the other brothers. Since all the other brothers were dead. So, he'd just have to find another way to get information out. It would just be nice if Shuichi could ask Genocider Jack personally about everything that had happened, but who knows what might happen if she had come out. Not to mention Fukawa's potential reaction to Shuichi even asking to talk to her other personality. This was proving to be more difficult than expected. Sure, he had a good lead, but it looked like the string he was following was getting more frayed as he went along. 

Yasshiki looked over, " All I've been able to gain and learn is that five of my brothers came here to work for someone a while back before I moved here. Then a few later went by and they came back to who gave them the job to finish it after flubbing it up. Guessed they messed up or something. One ended with the poker queen, one to Jack, one to the zoo's gators, and one by a gun. What I think is that they kept failing, that their contact got sick of it and instead decided to off the last one for their failure. I'm sure the other two were in one this, but had business elsewhere. Then, boom... Yakuza got one. All I have is my eldest left..." 

Fukawa rolled her eyes, " We get it a-and your little theories!" 

" I'm still sure that even tough Kokichi annoys you, you're still his friend." 

She snapped at the other, " W-What?! H-Hell no I'm not friends with that idiot! That's just what he wants to think! T-The only people I ha-have is Komaru, t-the guy I knew back at the institution, and... unfortunately you." She finally gave in, winning a smirk from tall thin male. 

Shuichi was quick to jump in any leads that might be related to the institution, knowing that they were going back there eventually so it would best to collect even more information on it. The detective looked towards Fukawa, asking the question quickly after she had spoken. “ This ‘guy’ you knew at the institution... can you tell me more about him?” 

She shot a glare to him, not wanting to give in. However the male looked over his shoulder and poked her softly, nudging her with his foot. " Fine! Fine! His name was Kimishun Daisachi ... He w-was a special c-case. More t-than me from what I was told. W-What do you want to know about him? B-Because I-I'm not telling you s-shit!" 

Yes! Finally! Shuichi had gotten a really good lead and/or connection between the institution and her that also somehow related back to Kokichi. But, he had to choose his questions wisely, because he didn’t really think she would spill that much on the subject if not at all. “ Did you speak with him often when you were there?” He asked first and foremost. 

She looked down, her shoulders rising a bit as her fingers went against the other, her face became softer as a blush crept onto her face, " W-Well yeah, whenever h-he was aloud to be out of his cell, he said I was actually a beautiful woman. Not even Master would say that-but I don't mind being scum to Master." She hugged herself, but growing before shaking it off. " B-But yeah, we talked." If Kokichi was Daisachi... Why would she not enjoy his company. But since Yasshiki just said he considered her a friend... Was she lying just to cover for him? 

Shuichi wanted to get to the bottom on if she was trying to cover up something or not... because he was positive that Kokichi and Daisachi were one and the same, now he had to just get more evidence to confirm that. “ And do you remember what he looked like? Height, eye color, hair color...?” 

" Y-Yeah. Blond, scrawny, orange eyes, about your height, sharp teeth, has an affinity with dinosaurs and horses." She said with a straight face-or as straight as she could make it without looking overly annoyed. " Moved off somewhere, ever since I left we haven't been able to contact one another." 

Shuichi raised a brow at Fukawa’s description of Daisachi, finding the description that he got very conflicting with what he had heard previously about the person of interest. Now he just had to determine if she was lying on purpose, if he was lied to before, or if she was just not remembering correctly. He doubted it was an accidental mistake... so that meant he was being lied to on either ends. But, he didn’t know what approach to take with Fukawa... after a short pause to think, he approached the situation in the best way he could think of. He had to be..somewhat assertive, he thought at least, to get his point across to her. “ That’s... strange. Because I had someone else describe him to me before, and they’re description was... very different.” He sighed softly, “I might actually have to get you involved in this more than I thought then... because at this point it would be hard to determine who’s lying about the description of a key person in a case, and lying to a detective can be filed as obstruction of justice. I might even have to get Haiji involved...” He spoke with a small, innocent-like, nervous smile on his face. 

The timid and snappish girl went full out into a rage, " A-Are you calling me a fucking liar?! Wh-Who the hell did you talk too?! Was it that creep of a janitor?! O-Oh sure, sure! Trust the ex-mobster more t-than a h-horrible ugly freak with mental problems! F-Fine! I don't blame you! I-I'm sure an equally certified killer is b-better than another! M-Maybe I should let 'her' get involved if you're going to drag that ungrateful mole man into this mess! Yasshiki get some pe-pepper or something!" The lean male flinched in his chair, looking more scared than nervous, eyes blown wide, shaking a bit from Shuichi's view. This guy really didn't want to get involved with this mess, especially when summoning Genocider Jack. 

Shuichi weighed his options about what to say next... the reaction that Yasshiki was having indicated that he shouldn’t press any further into the matter, not wanting to let Genocider Jack out... but from a detective standpoint, having Genocider Jack out may lead to the possibility of getting the answers he needs... He had his taser with him just in case and Hajime was somewhere in the building as well. Shuichi took a deep breath, looking at Fukawa, “ I-I’m not saying that you’re definitely a liar, I’m saying that I can’t dismiss the possibility until I really figure out the true psychical description of Daisachi. And since I don’t know which one of you is lying, I might have to get Haiji involved.” Shuichi spoke, only repeating what he said before that made her so upset. 

" Y-You.... You little-" She froze up, eye twitching as she leaned back. At this point Yasshiki sprung out from his chair and ducked behind the table that favored his computer. Fukawa got so worked up that she put her hands over her nose and sneezed harshly. All the tension in the room only grew out as her eyes snapped open, large engorged red pupils staring at the detective. With a small blink she shifted her hands away and let loose a lengthy tongue and grin, "Pretty boy~!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://danganronpa.fandom.com/wiki/The_Madarai_Brothers  
> They are real characters...
> 
> And, yes there are two Jojo references in here, because I am a fucking nerd with no life...


	29. Pins And Needles Down Your Spine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Genocider Jack/Shou/Whatever else  
> Honestly I can't write her without having this playing in the back, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZrCgFdKbig

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have slipped in game-play mechanics in a little, not much. And it's better than Hajime's surfing.

" Ohhhhh! What a cute little pretty boy~!" She nearly screeched out. Within just a quick flash of speed, two pairs of finely sharpened scissors stopped right to Shuichi's neck, daring to pierce into him and rip his jugular out. " Ohhhh so cute! I just want to rip you apart-But Master wouldn't like that... Hmm, decisions, decisions." Before he could even react, she seemingly made the weapons vanish behind her and instead gave him a harsh poke on the chest, " Your lucky Master won't have me brutalize anyone anymore-or I'd be alllll over you! EHAHAHAHAHA!" She cackled out. 

The poke to his chest made the navy haired boy flinch slightly. But, Shuichi was relived that it was just a poke that she had decided not to kill him mercilessly...it seemed that his plan was going relatively okay, but also made sure to keep in mind he still had another way of defending himself in his pocket. This personality was way different than the timid yet harsh Fukawa, noting how open and full of cackles this personality had. Thank goodness for this ‘master’ person, whoever they were...The shock of being almost killed for being ‘a cute pretty boy’ faded as the detective regained his composure, looking at the person in front of him. “ So... you’re Genocider Jack then, correct?” 

" Yeeeees~! That would be me, nice to meetcha'~!" She gave a wicked smile, something telling him she wasn't actually happy to meet him. " Hmhmhm, bored, bored, bored. What's a girl to do if she can't go off and maim anyone right? Right, right, right?!" She moved into his space, still grinning mad. She waited for any reaction but was thrown off by a shuffle from behind. " Hold that thought!" With a sharp turn, a scissor flew out and managed to splinter into the wall near Yasshiki who let out a yelp. Jack walked merrily over and got out the other weapon, spinning it around her hands like a revolver, " Oh, looky, looky~! It's one of those fuckers~!" 

" A-AHH! It's me, Yasshiki! C-Code 913!" He quickly spat out, covering himself with his arms. 

With that she sheathed her scissors, " Ohh, whoopsie~! It's so hard to tell since you're other brother is still loose, my baaad~! Ehahaha!" 

Shuichi widened his eyes when Yasshiki was almost stabbed with a pair of scissors and obviously felt really bad for him, now understanding why he didn’t want the other personality out. But, Shuichi knew he could probably get other valuable information from this personality as well... if he could manage to gain her interest, at least. It looked like she would be a person to wander off it a conversation got boring... He went up to Genocider Jack, asking his question quickly. He needed this information... “ You know about his brothers, because you’ve killed one, right? Can you tell me what you know about them?” 

Not even turning around, she instead arched her back at an almost impossible degree, staring at Shuichi upside-down. She finally propped to her normal stance which was much more intense than Fukawa. No more slumping, just straight out right knowing she could dominate anyone in a fight. " I don't know why some scrub wants to know about them so much, why don't you ask him? I mean, unless you want to go into details on how I did it~!" 

Shuichi internally sighed, somehow a part of him knowing that even if he did have a chance to get this information that it wouldn’t be as easy as originally thought... he looked towards her, deciding to instead ask a question that got straight to the heart of what he really wanted to know. Which was more information about Kokichi. “ W... Well... then, do you know Ouma Kokichi ?“ 

She sped to him, right near his face with a glare, " That little snot-nosed brat?! The hell do you want to know about him?! Is he here?! We need to catch up on Hide and Seek, ehahahahaha!" She backed off just as quick as she came within Shuichi's proximity and scratched the back of her neck, " Ugh, what a pain in the neck that guy is. What the hell does he have do with anything?" She gave a stern glare, angry that he dare waste any of her time. 

So, she did know Kokichi, that's... good. “ W... Well...” Shuichi began to respond, “ I’m trying to get to know him more and understand him so I can g-get closer to him, and that involves talking to people he knows or has a background with. And you seem to know him.” 

She gave a bored expression, " ... And you're wasting my time on trivial dribble that I could give less of a shit about. Yeah I know of him. He's a little annoying spoiled rat that likes to scurry around and gnaw on the walls which happens to be people's minds and patience. He looooves irritating me to no end because he knows I can't kill him. And so far you're starting to be in the same boat." 

Shuichi, at this point, didn’t really know if Genocider Jack knew anything more about Kokichi... but he didn’t know that for sure. However, he could tell that she was getting bored of him and annoyed by his questioning. He had to find someway to pique her interest in the conversation, and of him, so that he could keep asking questions here and there. “ W-Well...” he started to speak, “ I’m almost positive he was linked to one of the dead brothers. A... target in a way. And, since you seemed more than ready to slice up Yasshiki without knowing who he was just now, you hold some kind of a grudge against them? H-Honestly, I just want to know your personal opinion on them.” 

The crazed girl blinked before thinking on it, " Does it look like I give a flying fruity fucking shit about the little pest? Only reasons I killed that snake was because this town is MY TURF TO MESS WITH PRETTY BOYS, EAHAHAHA! I don't need some punk taking them when I can't! But the main reason really was because I was protecting a friend. IMAGENE ME WITH A FRIEND AHAHAHA! And judging how annoying you are I doubt you have any..." She trailed off getting a scissor out, " I don't think anyone will miss you pretty boy~!" 

Thankfully the youngest brother spoke up, " He's a detective!" 

Jack halted her erratic actions in disgust, " UGH! One of them... Hmf, fine you got lucky once again~! But I've never once known someone to get lucky three times in a row." 

Shuichi internally sighed, knowing he probably wouldn’t get any more info about anything he wanted willingly and would just have to go by things that she said. He didn’t want to try to push his luck to be the only person who’s ‘gotten lucky’ three times in a row... He looked at the killer in front of him, giving her a nervous smile, “ U-Um, okay then... h-how about we talk about something you like or want to know then..?” 

She gave off a rage filled glare without actually having to make that much of a shift on her face, " I like pretty boys, I like cutting them into pretty precious bloody ribbons~! I like Master, I like my friends-and lack of friends, I like when people know their damn place, and I don't like being pestered on and on." She sighed out, skillfully chucking the glistening scissors near the other male in the room again, making him squeak in terror and bundle back up more in his spot of safety, " EHAHAHAHA! THAT SHIT NEVER GETS OLD!" 

Shuichi flinched slightly when the scissors where thrown again, feeling really bad because that kept happening... but, he pushed through the guilt and cleared his throat slightly before asking another question about her answer, “ D-Do your friends know about the whole ‘cutting pretty boys to ribbons’ thing?” 

As she went to retrieve her weapons she continued to answer only because she had nothing better else to do, " Well considering I only have three, of course~! It's what happens when you become friends with someone like me~! Ain't that right snake boy~?!" A ere squeak left the other's lips and tongue. " Love you too~! Any who~... Why, you looking to become one? Because, TOO BAD! You've piss me off too much." 

Shuichi looked at her, a soft smile on his face, “ I-I actually have plenty of friends... but anyway, where did you meet these friends of yours?” 

" Asylum, Library-OBVIOUSLY! And down town being mugged by another Yakuza clan trying to take this town and overthrow the one we have, you know, the works." She shrugged a bit as if all of that was natural for any person... 

Shuichi blinked slightly at her blunt explanation of things, mentioning something about an asylum provoking his interest even further, “ Who are the names of these friends?” 

The girl sighed and pulled up a chair, " Ugh it's just like therapy all over again except without Master here to reward me and instead being rewarded with more bullshit... This dumb-ass behind me, Komaru and Daisachi. Girl and guy. Stout, kinda cute, short brown hair with a dingily thing like yours." A scissor flung out from her hand, nearly snipping off the one strip of hair on Shuichi's head, " Other one, green hair, baby fatty, ugly like me and 'her', no point in killing someone with potential either." 

Shuichi flinched when the strand of hair that pointed up from the top of his head was almost cut by her scissors, thankful that she didn’t actually cut it. However, the name Daisachi had popped up again and this time with a description that matched one he had heard already. But it still didn’t match Kokichi’s description... this confused Shuichi a lot. Because he was sure that Kokichi was Daisachi... in all honesty, it was frustrating that he wasn’t getting any more evidence for it... he then looked up at her, not really caring at this point about whether she was getting bored and annoyed. He had a taser in his pocket if things got bad. “ Do you know what Daisachi was in the institution for?” 

" Ohhh look who grew a pair suddenly." She said noticing his mood shifted slightly, " Course I do, why the hell wouldn't I? They said he was taken in by his 'would be dad'. PAH! Like that old geezer gave a shit about him or anyone! So annoying that guy." She gave out another sigh, seemingly calm for the moment or just tired of this all together. " They said he acted out, went into violent tendencies, avoided people, was rash and harsh to anyone who got close, and lied constantly! Like out the wazoo. Suspected he may have been the murderer of his 'mom'. Course not much evidence unless he realized what he did and somehow managed to lock himself up with her corpse as punishment." She didn't even need to turn her head as she carelessly flung the other weapon, barley missing the youngest brother's hand that was reaching out to a phone. " Thing is, he didn't do it. How do I know? Because they put a lie detector on the guy's neck, kept him locked up. Whenever me or 'her' saw him, he nearly had tear stains scarring his face. Me and 'her' made a diary so we could keep track of him. Every truth he spoke was a lie, every lie was a truth. 'She' tried telling the doctors, but who'd believe a crazy girl right? EAHAHAHAHA-No one, that's who." 

Shuichi noted everything that she had told him, some pieces he had hard before and some new little pieces of info as well. This definitely sounded like what Kokichi had described to him at Kit’s before he was pushed into a corner and there was proof from the scar on his neck that some kind of device had been worn. The only thing conflicting was the description of Daisachi. It didn’t match Kokichi at all... but everything else did. Maybe he’d ask about that again later... but for now he just needed to push forward, “ Do you know where he is now?” 

" Nooooo clue... Unless you really wanna' know? Which in case you do, the answer is. I DON'T FUCKING KNOW, EAHAHAHAHA! Even if I did, like I'd tell you anything. If Master were to even ask, I'd hafta' even decline on that~." She folded her arms, wagging around a finger as her head shook from side to side as if she were lecturing a child. " No, no, noooope! That's something we both promised. He went through too much trauma, wouldn't you do the same? Imagine being stuck in an asylum for a couple of years, little to no interaction with people, and people avoiding you because what you say will always be a lie." 

That... made sense that she would want to keep where he would be now a secret. But, that also means she could be lying about his appearance to protect him. Shuichi thought it was pretty safe to assume he wouldn’t ever get a clear description of Daisachi, because the identity was probably being protected by a lot of people... but it was worth a shot to ask, right? “ So, you’d keep his location a secret even if you did know... that means you would potentially also lie about his appearance?” 

" Heeeheeey, you're catching on, good for you! If I had a doggy treat, I'd toss you one. But if you were my dog you'd be dead meat by now for all this yapping, ehahahaha!" She slapped her knee, almost doubling over from the cruel and unusual joke she just made up for herself. " If he's being hunted down by a detective, must mean the police are after him, and I know very well how that mad house was. If he goes back there, he'll be more broken than a fat kid who just got mugged right as he got to the candy store! Or a puppet with no string, being CRUSHED over and over and over again!" She grinned manically. 

Shuichi nodded softly, for once he was really glad to know he was being lied to. This meant all of the accounts of Daisachi’s appearance were fake and that opened the door wider for his theory that Kokichi and Daisachi were one and the same. “ Well... if I do find him, I won’t send him back there. I actually agree with you on that part. From all the things I’ve heard, he’s innocent...” Shuichi’s nightmare flashed back into his mind after he spoke, the padded rainbow room burning holes in his though process. A slightly sad yet determined look appeared on his face as he glanced down to the floor, “ I’ll make sure he doesn’t go back...” 

She scoffed, " Ptttttf! Yeah, sure, right! Like I'm going to believe that tripe. You do realize who you're talking to right? I'm a serial killer, I don't even trust myself... Uggggh this is all so damn boring! I can't even talk with Master to speed this by. Know what, fuck it, I'm out!" She did a quick step forward and grabbed him by the collar of his raven dark shirt, " If you've got a recorder or hidden camera on you, I will knooooow~! So don't even think about it Haiji! Yeah I assaulted and threatened, but like hell did I actually harm anyone! So if you want to send me in. I'm waaaaiting~! EHAHAHAHAHA!" She cackled out, shoving the detective off and grabbing a hefty looking book and actually hitting herself over the head, knocking her out. 

Shuichi had blinked, standing there in shock after he his collar had been grabbed and he had threatened before Genocider Jack knocked herself out with a book. That... was an event, that’s for sure. But he got really useful information about it. He was really glad he had took the risk! The navy haired boy then turned over to look at the other man in the room who was still hiding from the killer, walking over to him, “ A-Are you okay?” He asked, feeling guilty “ I’m sorry that I made her come out... I just had some questions I really need answered.” 

The thin lean man peeked his head out, shaking violently before giving a glare, " I-I-I don't really see w-why o-or what you're after. K-Kokichi is just some kid, d-does it r-r-really matter that much-No offense, but I'd rather not die before my oldest brother, he's s-such a p-pr-prick." He finally got out from his hiding place and sat on the chair that had been pulled out, sighing out loudly, " S-Sorry. I don't enjoy dealing with 'HER'... Anyways it happens." 

Shuichi looked at him, guilty that he had made him so scared by bringing her out, but what was done was done. “ W-Well...” Shuichi mumbled softly, figuring he had to at least try to explain why he put Yasshiki through all that. He deserved to know and it might help alleviate some of his own guilt. “ I-It does matter to me... ever since I’ve met him, he’s been so intriguing to me that I can’t help but want to know...especially when he might connect to something big. A-And it’s kind of natural to want to help the person you’re... a-attracted to... a-and k-kissed before....” 

Yasshiki rubbed his chin pondering on it and it all making perfect sense now, the pieces of the puzzle now in frame, " Ah... Well, he is fairly curious in nature. And I do understand. Romance is a peculiar thing, heh, I do enjoy reading those novels at times. But, I don't know if this is entwined wit-" 

Just then the door slammed open, Hajime peeking in with his eye wide, " WAIT, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Yasshiki shot out a glare and placed a finger over his lips, scolding the other detective. " O-oh right, s-sorry, sorry. Indoor voice. Where was I, right-Shuichi you actually kissed him?!" So... That was the only thing he heard, nothing about how Kokichi came into play. Which was good! But this was also a stab emotionally. " Annnnd Fukawa is passed out." he let out a hardened sigh, " Great, now I have to deal with 'her' again." 

Shuichi was stunned slightly when Hajime had appeared, a look of embarrassment displayed on his face now that Hajime knew about it... He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with Hajime at he moment before stuttering out, “ U-Um, actually, you just missed Genocider Jack....” he then quickly added on, “ I-If that’s what you meant, o-of course!” 

" ... We-Well that's a relief, glad she didn't knick either of you... Uhm s-sorry Yasshiki." The taller male shrugged before kneeling down to help the knocked out girl to a break room, wishing the two a good day. Hajime slowly walked out with his partner, still stunned a bit, " Aherm... I mean it's not bad or anything. Just... Unexpected." 

Shuichi had walked along side Hajime, still thoroughly embarrassed by Hajime's reaction to the whole thing and the timing in which he had gotten told. He glanced off to the side, nodding softly at Hajime's explanation of his reaction. " O-Okay..." Shuichi mumbled softly, " Th... That's why Kokichi seemed so friendly at the diner with me this morning..... i-if you were wondering about that...." 

Once they got into the car the elder detective gave a sigh and rubbed his temples, " Don't worry. Again, not upset, or angry at you. I just find it... Not really strange, just off guard is all. I mean you have been wanting to know about him for the past several weeks since you've met him, so I don't blame you, and I'm not judging you. Just don't point that out with Haiji and you'll be fine. No way I'm going to tell him." 

Shuichi nodded slightly when Hajime had tried to comfort Shuichi, giving the other a soft smile, " Thanks..." he spoke in earnest. Though, Shuichi wouldn't blame Hajime if he had felt that it was strange or even if he had judged him for it. He knew what kind of reputation Kokichi had in the town and how he interacted with other people in ways that tried to push their buttons... But, Shuichi tried not to dive to deep into it for now. He just took Hajime's words at face value and decided to move on. 

" So... Anywhere else you'd like to go for today or save it for tomorrow, because I didn't find any clues, and I'm sure you asked those two and they had no information on the matter, which is fine. Just need to know now. Unless you want to swoop by the department or something." Hajime gave out his options, not wanting to investigate an area by himself like he had previously to having a witty partner to help back him up on some hunches and question people. 

Shuichi thought for a moment, trying to decide what he had wanted to do with the rest of the day. One of the places to go was the department's records... and he could probably spend a lot of time there just looking at the files pertaining the people he was interested in and could probably just walk home from there by himself if his investigating ran a little long. A little cold never hurt anyone. He then looked at Hajime and spoke, " Can we go back to the department, if that's okay? I'd like to take a look at some of the records we have that might help." Hajime nodded and drove. 

A few minutes later upon the doors opening, Ishimaru as his usual self saluted and yelled out near Kiibo and Chiaki, who was working on the robot, " Greetings Hajime and Shuichi!" 

The brunette winced slightly, " A-Ahhh Taka, we've talked about indoor voice remember?" 

" O-Oh! I am terribly sorry." The large and thick brows went down as he apologized. " Also, H-Haiji would like to see you. I can help be with you for support." 

Hajime groaned, " Urgh, of course. Okay, okay. Shuichi, go do whatever." He said glumly as he followed a shaken Ishimaru. Shuichi watched as Hajime went off with Ishimaru, wondering why Haiji would want to see him. Seeing Haiji was bad, sure, but he wondered what Haiji wanted with him. It didn't matter at the moment though, so he made his way towards where they had kept physical records first to see if they had anything there. Then he would go and look at the electronic records, though what he wanted to see might not even be there or might be protected with a password or something of the like... 

Chiaki implanted some type of wire into the back of Kiibo's back and popped the slot back in. She yawned then slightly slapped his cheek, " Hey, hey, wake up. You know Kiibo if you keep this up we're going to have to take you to either Togami Corp or Miu at this rate." Her brow rose as she watched Shuichi kind of stand there thinking on what plan of action to do next, " Need some help?" 

Kiibo had blinked a few moments after Chiaki had slapped his cheek, just quick enough to hear her mention something about Togami Corp and Miu. None of those options sounded very pleasant at all. He started to get a feel for his body again after he had woken up, rotating his arms from his shoulders and moving his head side to side as Chiaki interacted with the detective. Shuichi looked over at Chiaki as she called out towards him, a soft smile on his face, " Um..." He started to speak, thinking on it before eventually nodding, " Yeah, actually. I was going to try and access some files we have on record." 

Chiaki took a long stretch letting out a tiny mewl, popping some bones before tiredly nodding, " Just hold your badge to the scanner near the back room over yonder." She pointed over for him, " It's at the very back. Had to make double protection ever since someone came in and burnt up some files, stole, or marked them... Well that and an attorney and his assistant getting tazed by some old prosecutor... What a jerk... Oh no, wait, I'm thinking of my game." 

Shuichi gave of a small and slightly awkward smile after Chiaki had confused real life with her game but then nodded softly at her explanation, which he was really thankful for. " Okay," he replied, " Thanks for the help." He then started to walk towards the direction that she had pointed him towards after giving her a small and polite wave. Once he had reached the door, he had dug his badge out of his pocket and pressed it against the scanner. 

In the relatively large room had many cabinets filled up with old folders, files, and documents. Some were organized in boxes on some shelves while some were packed tightly within file cabinets. Every single thing that was of crime origin was somewhere in this room, flowing with old and dust prints from times before anyone had even worked at the department. Shuichi had looked around the large room and all of the files that had surrounded him. Like in the library, an unanticipated feeling of happiness had rushed through him. He had memories of being in rooms like these when he was in a child helping his uncle and memories back at his old precinct. Something about a packed evidence room with a bunch of knowledge to be dug up and learned fascinated Shuichi. The navy haired detective took a deep breath before entering the room further, looking for any hint of an organization system that was in the room. Alphabetical, types of crime, people, places, things... any hint that would point him towards getting the files he had wanted to see. 

He finally came across Kokichi's file, but just like predicted, there wasn't much on him. Fingerprint, age, birthday, name of town, which was blank since no one knew exactly what town he was born in, personality, a small list of felonies, blacked out last name, and a large amount blacked out, other files of him were burnt up and in a bag of ash as evidence. However when he looked for Daisachi... Shuichi found nothing. Daisachi was not a person. There was no file on him, as well as the other allies he had been given... Why wasn't there a record on those two? And yet, only one scrap on Kokichi? Shuichi thought the whole thing smelled fishy. There wouldn't be just a person completely missing from the system and there shouldn't just be a scrap about Kokichi. It just wasn't accurate. Unless someone had tampered with Kokichi's file and had completely removed Daisachi's file. But, there shouldn't be a lot of people who would be able to do this to the records that the police had on them..unless it was someone higher up. Shuichi's mind instantly flickered to Haiji, noting his real distaste for the purple haired trouble maker. That was a very real possibility. But, for some reason, the old man he's heard about and only met once before popped into his mind. He had gotten really bad vibes from Tengan when he had met him. He had been paying a lot of money to the police department in support. Was that just... some form of hush money? 

Then again... The only ones who knew about Daisachi were two people, informing he was real. But that was just the thing, only two people recalled him. And both had been at the mental institution. Hajime hadn't even known about him until they asked that janitor. He could ask Haiji about the name, sense if he was covering up or not. But again, sure Haiji wasn't the best but would he really go through the trouble of fussing with records-wait... Someone could have tampered with the records... Maybe Chiaki or someone had a recording of them. He only now noticed the camera tucked into the corner, peculiarly set to be hidden from some files overhead on shelves. When Shuichi had seen the camera, the only thing he could think of was it getting a glimpse of someone who potentially had messed with the records. He just had to find out where he could find the recording that the camera above had caught. He quickly put back the scarce file he had taken out on Kokichi and quickly left the room to go and find Chiaki. 

She would be the person to ask for a recording from the camera in the records room. Or, at least, he assumed that she would be the one to go to. Chiaki was mindlessly playing a hand held game since Haiji was too busy talking with her rather close friend. The girl hardly moved around, but what she lacked for it came back in full swing with computers and technological devices. She noticed the taps of Shuichi's feet against the tile an looked over briefly before going back to her game, " Find everything okay?" 

Shuichi watched as the girl played her video game, even though she was doing so he knew that she was most likely listening. " Well..." He spoke, " I had seen a camera in the records room and I was wondering if I could access the recordings it's been taking and look over them." He stated firmly, knowing exactly what he wanted. 

" Lemme' guess, looking into the guy who screwed over some people's files right? Sure thing." She said, setting aside her game to quickly type around, " Here, look for any files you want while I go get the guy whose in charge of the cameras... Hey Kiibo! Go get Makoto!" She hollered out, " So, whose file you want while we wait?" 

Kiibo looked over towards Chiaki as he was shouted for, quickly nodding and replying with an enthusiastic yet serious " Got it!" Before quickly walking off to go find Makoto. 

Shuichi looked over at Chiaki as she typed thinking of the files that he wanted, " Well... I want to see if there's anything on Kimishun Daisachi first." He replied to her. 

Chiaki gave a small chuckle as she watched how Kiibo reacted so quickly, " Sometimes I worry I work him too hard. Okay, let's see..." She typed up what she needed and... Nothing. No file. " Let me check the back up files." She typed in some more but again no results, " Hmmm, you sure there's a person named that?" 

Shuichi thought for a second. There was supposed to be a person named that, unless... the name was a lie as well as the descriptions he had been given about Daisachi. Maybe 'Daisachi' never even really existed and everyone's been using that name to try and cover up the true identity of the one who was sent to the institution by his father to protect him from police and law enforcement. That... would make a lot of sense. Shuichi paused before replying to Chiaki, " Well....no." At this point, Shuichi should just assume that Kokichi and Daisachi are one and the same and when someone says Daisachi, they really mean Kokichi. " How about... are there any detailed files on Ouma Kokichi ?" 

With a quick flurry of thing fingers and a gaze on the screen, a record did pop up. Once opened, there was just about the only things he had seen in the record room. Except less due to the blackened redirected notes didn't need to be blackened out on the screen. So instead it was just left blank. Even Kokichi's last name was empty... And upon Shuichi asking anything about an Akihito Tajako, nothing popped up. No record of anyone named that. Chiaki sighed, " Sorry dude, but remember what me and Hajime told you. Someone snuck in here and deleted some files... Okay well not that. They spread a virus through the whole system, even logging into the back ups-... Wait a moment... Why are you looking up Akihito? There was only that nice old lady. Her name was Akihito Yua." She proceed to bring up the file, revealing many, many things that Shuichi could glance over. However one thing did manage to catch his eye. She had adopted a child. Unfortunately once she clicked it for more information, errors came up, making the girl pull over her cat hoodie and groan out. " Damn, no name!" 

Shuichi widened his eyes, when he saw that she had adopted a child... that could lead into more possibilities and could give him a more solid connection. It was safe to assume that 'Akihito Tajako' was... maybe... the adopted child? Just under a different name... like Daisachi... Shuichi looked over at Chiaki in her frustration, giving her a soft smile, " It's okay. Can you just take us back to the file on Akihito Yua? I'd like to read more about her if you wouldn't mind... at least until Makoto gets here." She kept the file up for him. Again it was exactly what people had recalled in town from various sources. The only thing is that it didn't give was the name of the child she had adopted or where she had adopted them from. 

There wasn't any information on any relations with Tengan. But since when did the police keep track of people other people dated? No one would be able to keep track of that. That was when a young male around or younger than Shuichi came over with a disc. This new face looked much like Hajime only... Shorter, darker hair, and with a softer face, almost like Kokichi or Saionji's but not plotting. " O-Oh hello there. My names Naegi Makoto. I've been so busy that I didn't get to welcome you. Kirigiri talked about you enough over the phone. We were pretty good friends before I was moved here." He gave a small smile, nervous and shy like himself, but not as much. 

Shuichi perked up and was fully pulled out of his thoughts surrounding the file he was reading at the mention of Kirigiri, not having heard her name for what seemed like a while. Even though Shuichi hadn’t been here for long, it seemed like he had been here for much longer... But, Makoto seemed really pleasant to be around, just from his introduction and overall demeanor. Shuichi smiled back at him “ My name’s Shuichi Saihara. It’s nice to meet you.” 

The slightly younger boy nodded as he shook his hand, " Likewise." He gave a smile, happy to have someone who had been with Kirigiri, knowing that he could trust them. The woman never took too much of a liking to most people, even less trusting people. He gave the disc to Chiaki who popped it in and shifted her fingers around, managing to open the fairly old recording marked around six years ago. The room was quiet and dark until a the door opened softly. A very lean and thin man-almost Yasshiki's frame but slightly larger, which was terrifying in itself-walked in and looked about. They wore nothing but black, like an idiot and wore a mask to cover their face as their long hair dangled out from the back, much like Korekiyo's or again the youngest brother. They spotted the camera and reached over for it, holding up a marker and scribbling it in black. " That's all they were able to get. Ever since then when I joined I reviewed the tape with others and we we're pretty sure it was one of the Madarai brothers. However..." He sighed out, " There were eight of them, so... yeah. Sides that no one knew about them until the youngest, Yasshiki came to town and then the deaths..." 

Shuichi had watched the tape very closely and intently, listening to Makoto in the background as his own thoughts began to spin in his head. The navy haired detective went into his own thoughts, trying to sort things out in his head before coming to logical conclusion. Why did one of the Madarai brothers try to come in and clearly didn’t want to be seen by the camera? Probably to steal information from Kokichi’s file. How were the Madarai brothers connected to Kokichi? Three of the brothers had gotten murdered by ‘friends’ of Kokichi’s so the brothers were probably after him... But if they just wanted to target Kokichi, why did they feel the need to steal information from Kokichi’s file electronically and physically? Maybe...was it because someone had hired them to do it? They were hit-men after all, they didn’t have to have a personal grudge against trouble-maker at all. But, the person who hired them might... Shuichi didn’t mean to be rude to the other two at all, but he was currently lost in his thoughts at the moment. Like he could get from time to time. 

The other two talked among one another until Hajime walked over with Haiji who let out a notifying cough, making the two stop their conversation. Haiji gave a soft mutter, " Oi! Saihara wake up!" As Shuichi was clawed out from his thoughts he was met with an irritated chief of police. " Why are you looking over old files? Especially that recording? It has nothing to do with D.I.C.E. it's old news-unless... Do you think he's in D.I.C.E.?" He nodded over to the man on the screen... Well that answered how little Haiji cared about background information on Daisachi... Though he could technically ask about Daisachi or Tajako... 

Shuichi was flustered, being pulled out of his thoughts by a irritated chief of police was the last thing he had expected at the moment. He had to be really... REALLY... careful about what he said around Haiji. One sentence or piece of evidence that remotely connected Kokichi to D.I.C.E in anyway and his nightmare could come true... it seemed like he nightmare had put Shuichi more on edge than he had originally thought... But as to not irritate Haiji anymore Shuichi quickly came up with a reply. “ N-No sir.” He spoke, then followed up with an acceptable reason, “ I-I was just investigating the recording and the old files that contained error messages pertaining to a virus that was put into our system from an outsider a while ago. I-I thought it might be a lead to D.I.C.E, since they appear to have someone who’s very talented with machinery and technology on their side, but... I’m certain now that this isn’t D.I.C.E. I was just cutting off any potential false leads before I kept investing.... s-sir.” 

Haiji gave a soft nod, letting out a breath of hot air, obviously irritated with not just Shuichi, but just everything in particular. He rubbed the ridge of his nose, " Right, right... That's good thinking really, but I unfortunately agree. The Madarai brothers are all killers but one. Even though D.I.C.E. is of a criminal organization, they have yet to kill anyone from what we can gather. This would have been long before D.I.C.E. appeared. That shifty bastard on screen fucked with some files, Kokichi's, Ryoma's, Togami's-Oooh boy was he pissed. And even other people like children and the elderly." He typed in to search for Ryoma along with other names, resulting in missing information much like Kokichi. For Shuichi, it was easily explained as one of the brothers did this to several people instead of one to keep the police running around instead of searching why only one person's file was tampered with. Even though Shuichi knew the true intent behind the multiple files containing information, he was relived that Haiji didn’t seem to notice. And that he bought his excuse as to why he was looking at this recording and the files in question. He didn’t really like lying, but when he absolutely needed to... He could be pretty convincing. Shuichi nodded along with Haiji’s statements however, agreeing with whatever he was saying. It was better to try and keep the already annoyed Haiji happy than to try and stir up more trouble... 

Not before long the day had ended with the nightly patrol taking their nocturnal shift and Shuichi on the way home, walking there to think over everything he had gathered. And just as fate would have it's way with flipping Shuichi's life around, his eyes detected a certain purple haired boy standing outside the museum, holding onto his normal backpack and bear tightly. Kokichi thought he was alone for the moment and took the time to watch the massive building intimidate him. The more him focused on the towering abode, the more insecure he got, soon fidgeting in place and biting at his thumb. The museum had large posters about an upcoming meteor shower. This in turn only escalated him further into panic. Shuichi had watched Kokichi’s reaction to the museum in front of him for a second, wondering why the sight of it made him exhibit the tell tale signs of being panicked. It wouldn’t hurt to approach him, right? Shuichi had walked up towards Kokichi from behind, standing next to him and looking towards him. “ Are you okay?” He asked, a really concerned look on his face. However, he made sure his footsteps through the snow were slightly louder than usual and spoke gently when he had gotten to Kokichi’s side so he wouldn’t scare the purple haired boy any further. 

Kokichi was drawn out of his own mixed up little world like Haiji had done with Shuichi. But unlike Shuichi who was connecting problems, Kokichi was fearing his own jumble of problems. So in turn the usually peppy and rude boy huddled down, clutching the stitched up mockery of a teddy bear. He remained quiet, sitting on the heels of his feet in the cooling shoveled snow and pavement like a child would when examining a skittering lizard or a mound of ants working for their daily harvest. It was so bizarre... Shuichi grew up with a friend who loved the cosmos and yet he met someone who seemed to fear it so much that it could instantly shatter all the masks he surrounded himself with. He glanced over at Kokichi who hadn’t replied to his question, but he already knew the answer... Shuichi moved in front of Kokichi, blocking his view of the museum and crouching down in front of him like he was grounding Kokichi back from his thoughts of space and the infinite space that is the universe. He knew with how secretive Kokichi was and how distressed he seemed to be at the moment, asking questions about his fear would be... out of place. His usual thoughts about gathering information were put aside as he naturally focused more on Kokichi’s well being. Slowly, Shuichi reached out and gently put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a kind and gentle smile. “ Do you know any places that are still open around here that sell dessert stuff? W-We can call it a date? My treat?” 

The boy still had his apron on, judging by this sight, he was on his way home. He gave a shiver once Shuichi laid gentle fingers on him. He gave a hollow shake of his head and muttered out something to deal with home and sleep-or just sleep in general. Again, he was acting like a child who had been scarred for life and found by the authorities, wanting nothing more than to go be in the safety of his home. Thankfully blocking out the large posters that announced the mesmerizing spectacle that would take place, seemed to be working. Not to the full extent, but well enough. At this point, the bear was smooshed from such a tight grip, the white side showing the way to Shuichi's home and the black to the apartments. It was safe to say Shuichi could take him to either. Seeing Kokichi like this had made Shuichi’s heart ache in his chest, even the way that the purple haired boy had reacted to his touch was more than enough to make Shuichi feel this way. He wouldn’t feel right, just dropping Kokichi off at his place not knowing who was even there right now and if someone was there to... take care of him? Comfort him? He... also wasn’t sure how to get to Kokichi’s place from the museum anyway... So, Shuichi presented the option to Kokichi to see what he had thought about it. It was his decision in the end, after all. “ How about we go back to my place then?” He asked. Another hollow shake of his head, only this time in a silent nod. The way to the humble abode was purely silent aside from the crushing ice from their boots. Kokichi tagged beside him, looking worse for wear and just drained out from any positive energy. Could a falling star really traumatize someone this badly? It would have to be some type of meteor that nearly hit him to cause something like this. It was hard to tell for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Chiaki is that lazy and yes she made a Phoenix Wright reference.  
> Also Kokichi is TERRIFIED of meteors/stars/space a bit in general as a shout out to Kaito. The whole things falling on him would be a shout out to his own in game self.
> 
> Akihito - Bright and Compassionate  
> Yua - Bind/Tie of Love/Affection  
> Ta-Ja-Ko - Big/Great/Vast - Wrong/Evil - Child/Prince
> 
> https://www.behindthename.com/ is what I used to make these names, so if you do know proper Japanese, I'm sorry...


	30. I Will Surround You And Give Life To A World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, we have Kokichi and The Leader... So, whose this scared child with a teddy bear?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feed the maw comments!  
> Just so you know, they are in their 20's, but look at them... Do they look like men? That's why we call them boys, so, sorry for the confusion.

Once the two got into the warmth of the home, Kaito was there to greet Shuichi only to stop upon seeing the gremlin. But before he could react in a harsh manner he noticed Kokichi looked emotionally empty. " Oh shit, what happen?" 

Shuichi looked at Kaito giving him a worried smile, but a smile nonetheless. “ I-I’m pretty sure he’s just really tired.” He spoke, assuming that at least some of it was true. But he also knew there was something more behind it. “ I’m just going to take him up to my room for the night... so, I’ll see you in the morning.” And with that, Shuichi had started to guide the smaller purple haired boy towards his room. 

Kaito shrugged along, " Alright, just remember to get something for you two to eat! Don't need two of ya' wastin' away! I'll call n' let Maki n' Kaede know before I go to work and they get home-And no funny business!" Kaito yelled out, chuckling to himself on the tail end of it to try and get a better uplifting mood in the air. 

Once in the room, Kokichi sat on the bed, taking various tings off, apron, boots, socks, backpack, and nearly ridding the scarf only to remember he wasn't at home. His fingers trembled, moving away from touching the cloth around his neck. Shuichi watched as Kokichi had taken various things off and saw his trembling fingers when he went to take off his scarf. The navy haired boy sat down next to Kokichi, doing his best to be supportive as he could. “ You can take it off if you want...” He stated gently, “ I won’t pry or ask about anything that’s under it. But, if you feel more comfortable with it on, that’s okay too.” 

Finally, thank the lords, Kokichi spoke up! He gulped nervously as his fingers wrapped around the scarf, pulling it off, showing off some scars and just how unnaturally pale the skin was compared to his already fairly pale skin. " I don't feel comfortable with it. I only have it on so no one stares, so no one asks, so I don't make parents concerned." Now that Shuichi had learned about the lie detecting collar, it was so much more obvious it had to be a collar, possibly like an electric one for humans. Only instead of physical harm, came mental harm. Honestly with the thought and knowledge that if Kokichi was Daisachi, it made him seem like some lab rat stuck in a cage to have certain things tested around his neck. 

Shuichi nodded in response to Kokichi, happy that he had finally spoke up since the first time he had seen him tonight. “ Makes sense,” he responded softly. He then looked at Kokichi, wanting to make sure he was comfortable over anything else at the moment. “ Do you want something to eat? I can go to the kitchen and get something for you if you want.” 

Kokichi let out a tired and unstable sigh, " S-Sure." He honestly didn't want any food, but was taught to be respectful to have food that someone gave him any or offered. He knew he had to eat but when he was upset or distracted which was a majority of the time, he'd frequently skip meals. But learning Shuichi did the same made him worry enough to get something in both of their systems. He'd rather not deal with another passed out Shuichi by himself in a house he only went to a few times. 

Shuichi was happy that Kokichi had at least agreed to eat something, knowing that when he personally had gotten like this he would skip out on eating. So, it was nice to see that Kokichi was... trying? The navy haired boy nodded, looking at Kokichi “ Is there anything you won’t eat?” He asked “ Or anything that sounds good?” 

" Doesn't matter." He said slumping onto his misfit teddy bear to make himself feel better. He was just tired. It always happened when he had a large trigger of a panic attack or memories brewing, only to suddenly burst into his head. Times like this, he didn't care if anyone saw him break apart, he was use to it. After Shuichi had grabbed some fresh leftovers from the fridge, Kokichi nibbled at his food on the floor, not wanting to make a mess at someone else's home. He left the bear on his side, grinning at the wall and nothing in particular, just... Grinning. Today was so strange. Small bits of information on the boy sitting across from Shuichi, adoption forums of an unknown child, the hit-men, the fake aliases', the lie detector, the scars, the ragged eye on the bear, the falling 'stars', the mysterious cloth of red. What the hell happen to Kokichi in the past? Why was it covered up so densely? Why make D.I.C.E.? 

Shuichi wanted desperately to uncover all of these questions to try and get an explanation to be one sitting in front of him, as well as see to it that the real truth was found and proper punishment was dealt because of it... Shuichi tried not to stare at Kokichi, taking bites of his food here and there but avoiding eye contact with Kokichi. He just... didn’t know what to say. Should he try and start a casual conversation? It... could be worth a shot, right? Shuichi had cleared his throat softly, before speaking and glancing off to the side, “ S-So today Hajime kind of caught wind of the fact that you and I had kissed last night.” A smile grew on his face as he continued, “ I don’t usually like causing a scene, but... Hajime’s reaction was actually kind of funny. He barged into the room and shouted, in a library of all places. And the look on his face was probably the most shocked I’ve seen him so far.” 

Kokichi's seemingly permanent frown-which in it's way was freaky to see-turned upside a bit, " Heh, wish I could have been there to see i-... Wait, you went to the library? Uhm... by any chance did you see Fukawa? I'd like to know how she's doing. I only visit ever so often." Of course Fukawa and Jack both said the had quite the dislike of Kokichi, but that was more than likely a cover-up if Kokichi was Daisachi. He didn't ask about the thin long tongued man though, maybe... Maybe Kokichi didn't even know people were even after him. 

However, Shuichi was glad that his small talk idea had worked and that Kokichi had seemed to be perking up a little more at the mention of going to the library. He nodded in response to Kokichi’s question, the soft smile still remaining on his face, “ Yeah, she gave me a nasty paper cut in my hand actually from swiping papers too quickly out of my hand... also didn’t like the fact that I was a detective... but other than that, she seemed to be doing just fine. I also got the chance to speak to Genocider Jack, who said you two need to catch up on Hide and Seek sometime.” 

Kokichi nodded before taking a few more bites, " She's just grumpy that I won last time... But yeah Fukawa gets like that, sorry... I guess, not sure, your fault for telling her what you do, but she'd rather not go back to 'Hell on Earth', or as people often refer to it as the loony bin, or if you want to be nice, the mental institution..." He gave a faint scowl. Sure Shuichi could try and press him on that matter but with how upset he was, it'd be best not to push unless he really wanted the other to lash out or cower. 

Shuichi didn’t continue talking about mental institutions any longer, just diverting the conversation back into something that wasn’t completely related to it. “ Yeah, it was mostly my fault for telling her my occupation. But, by chance, she had to give me a paper cut on my already injured hand...” He gave a weary smile, “ It feels like I was only just able to go without a bandage on it, but now I’m back to square one.” 

" Ehh, don't discourage yourself to much Mister Detective, you start to get use to things that hurt constantly. Or rather you get over it I guess. I don't know, I'm kinda talking out my ass right now." He gave a small shrug, finally getting over his high ridden panic attack, " She seems like she did a shoddy job on it though." 

Shuichi glanced off to the side, a small embarrassed smile on his face as he continued the conversation, “ Oh, you mean the bandages? Well...” He trailed off, speaking quieter in the second half of his statement. “ I actually was the one who cleaned it and but the bandage on, believe it or not.” 

Kokichi watched his hand, only briefly listening to the detective before sighing and getting out his small medical kit out from his bag, removing the bandage gently and cleaning it up, eventually putting a much more secure bandage on his hand like before, " Here you go... Hey I was wondering. That shower is gonna' hit soon in the next few days. I was just curious if, you know... I could stay indoors with you or something-I mean my roomies love it, and Rantaro gets stuck babysitting me..." He was like a damn cat when fireworks filled the sky with their loud shrieks, dazzling colors, and colorful flair. 

Shuichi blinked slightly at the new bandage on his hand, feeling happy that Kokichi would do something like that for him without even being asked to. He then listened to his request, not putting much thought to his quick decision. “ Yeah, of course you can.” He spoke, not even questioning why Kokichi seemed to be so frightened by the shower. “ Is there something in particular you want to do indoors?” 

Though he was talking, he still was rather lethargic when talking, not being his usual mischievous self, " Movies, games, I don't really care. As long as I'm away from it, it doesn't matter." His eye twitched slightly when he talked more about the upcoming event. " I can't be alone when it happens. I might do something stupid or just hide." He was almost emotionless at this point. No more fear, but no more giddiness. It was like when he talked with a serious tone, only mellowed out and apathetic. 

Shuichi noticed the tone, or lack there of, in Kokichi’s voice but didn’t do anything to comment on it. He just gave the other a small nod, trying to at least try and make the other feel better. “ Okay, it’s a date then.” He then widened his eyes softly, his face going a medium-tone of red before glancing off to the side, “ I-I mean, if you want it to be!... I-It could just be hanging out, if you like that better...” He corrected, not used to the whole being romantic thing just yet... 

A smirk slide onto the purple haired boy's grimace, erasing over it, " Pth-nishishi, you've said that two times now. Wow, you really want to be committed to actually dating? I don't understand why." The smirk faltered in between some small twitches. " Why do you keep being so damn nice to me? Why do you want to help me out so much? I don't understand-they said I wouldn't be able to feel like this ever again." He rubbed at the pale and old bruised skin around his neck as if something was nagging at him. Thankfully he didn't break down, he was just baffled. " I mean, you're just curious about me, that's all, right? That date wasn't actually a real thing, right? That kiss-hehe-it didn't really mean anything, right?" 

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi, listening to him denying that his feelings couldn’t actually be true. Shuichi wasn’t hurt by it at all, understanding because of all that Kokichi’s been through it would cause him to feel like that... If anything, Shuichi felt bad for him. But, the detective gathered his courage, took a deep breath then looked the other in the eye. “ The... The reason I want to keep helping you out and why I’m so nice to you is because... well, I honestly think-no, know I’ve... f-fallen... for you.” Shuichi leaned forward, gently hugging Kokichi as to not startle him too much. “ Y-You have it all backwards... I’m curious about you because I have these feelings for you... a-and I do seriously consider the date and the k-kiss to mean something.” 

Kokichi started to curl up on himself, confused out of his mind, he just wanted to know why, but he already knew that he'd never get the answer. That's how human behavior worked. Could be because he was cute, could be because he had wanted to help for some reason, could have started out from being confused, but actually developing feelings wasn't a concept he was use to. He so dearly wanted to put on his mask, pretend to have these feelings. Though he slipped the other day ago when he had asked for a kiss, maybe he shouldn't have pressed it. Kokichi went silent for a moment, trying to wrap around the concept. Unknowingly as he thought he leaned into the hug. " But no ones suppose to be like that to me. I'm not suppose to feel like this. Was I lied to again-fuck, of course they did!" He stopped noticing Shuichi being there, thus giving more questions to pile on for Shuichi. Shuichi was confused by Kokichi’s words about being lied to. Did... someone tell Kokichi that he would never be loved? Or that he wouldn’t like another person? This clearly was confusing to Kokichi just from his words and his physical reaction... but Shuichi didn’t know if he could back down from this now. He just kept hugging Kokichi, unsure of what to say. If he tried to fix this, he might just end up hurting or confusing Kokichi more. So, Shuichi was standing firm on his statement but not adding anymore fuel to the fire at the moment. 

After a while of silence, Kokichi's mind fizzled out. Upon just having a rough panic attack with added feelings and emotions questioning him, and having Shuichi confirm that he did like the prankster made everything melt. He thought about it too hard and overloaded his thoughts, going into some type of odd trance, pushed Shuichi away gently before he mechanically grabbed his bear, and spoke as if he were voicing it. The repressed trauma formed into the figure of the bear, " Would you like to hear a story?" He fussed with it's limp arms, hiding his mouth behind the toy. Normal Kokichi wouldn't say anything or admit anything to Shuichi, he'd just lie if his mind was working right. The fearful side of him would be too terrified to tell Shuichi anything. Shuichi finally got to see where this damn bear came into place. It was Kokichi's balance when either side wouldn't or didn't work. 

Shuichi looked at the bear that Kokichi had picked up off the floor and was speaking through. At first it made him pause, but then after assessing that this was more than likely how he dealt with overwhelming emotions, he willingly played along. He didn't look at Kokichi as he replied, but rather he looked at the stuffed bear that was presented in front of him. The navy haired detective nodded softly before replying to the question " Yeah, I would." 

" Once upon a time there lived a happy boy. He didn't know he was cursed though. If his parents weren't with him when he saw a shooting star he'd turn into a monster. One day, that happened. He was forced to leave them and join other monsters. The other monsters left him because he was too nice. People avoided him or would scare him away. One day the kingdom's queen found him and took him because he was so nice. She made him into a prince. Word got out and a famous monster slayer with his group thought the queen was tricked by the monster prince. They came in and figured the queen enjoyed the monster prince, treating him as if he were her child. They thought she went crazy and slayed her with arrows of poison. They captured the monster prince and announced he had killed the queen after hypnotizing her. The legendary hunter became king and the monster prince was thrown into a cave far, far away. The last thing he was ever told was, ' You are alone, Monster Prince, and you always will be... The end." 

Shuichi had listened to the story, keeping track of every detail and the cogs in his mind turning to try and figure out how the story would apply to Kokichi. The detective was fairly certain that the cursed monster prince was Kokichi and that would partially explain why he didn't want to see the meteor shower. But then, who was the queen? And who was the monster slayer. He said that the queen found him and took him in, doesn't that mean something along the lines of adoption? Shuichi thought back to the file on record of Akihito Yua, fresh in his memory from earlier, and how she had a same last name as Akihito Tajako, which wasn't present in the system like Daisachi was... So, does that mean Kokichi got adopted by her? It was entirely plausible. More than plausible, actually. Then, that means she was killed by someone? And said that Kokichi did it? Genocider Jack said something along the lines of rumors surrounding Daisachi killing his mother. The monster slayer who had become king, throwing the prince into a cave...? That sounded like Kokichi being put into the mental institution by his father. And Shuichi knew the wealth that Tengan owned could very well put him at a 'king' status in a story. Once Shuichi had completely deciphered the story, he couldn't help but feel really bad for Kokichi. Sure he knew bits and pieces of the story, but never once did he fully sit down and go through the whole timeline of how traumatizing Kokichi's past must have been like. Shuichi didn't even notice the stray tear that had ran down his cheek before he had spoke softly, " What if... a prince from another kingdom promised the monster prince that he wouldn't be alone anymore? Would the monster prince believe him?" 

The bear slowly turned to the detective, still with it's malicious and wide grin, mocking him and challenging him with the crimson berserked eye. " It depends... Would this prince even trust a lying monster who has lied so much to people to get him out of that cave? Why would a valiant prince want to be with a monster? Why should either believe the other?" 

Shuichi thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best reply to this situation. After a pause, he looked at the stuffed bear once again and spoke with confidence. " Because the monster was loved by the queen before, so what's to say another can't love the monster? When someone truly loves the monster, they don't care if he's a monster." The bear shifted out from Kokichi's hands, either Kokichi finally coming back to grips of reality or if Shuichi had somehow broken through the balance of the boy, putting it into a new perspective, not knowing how to respond. For all Kokichi strove to be and want nothing more to be, to be this inevitable force that could tear anyone up by the string, to not feel anything, and enjoy how his lies effected people, seemed to fall from it's own weight from what Shuichi brought up. The purple imp leaned more into back into Shuichi's touch and wrapped his arms around him to for comfort he was denied for years. Sure he had friends, but it dwarfed compared to the detective. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes slightly when Kokichi had opted to hug onto him instead of holding onto the stuffed bear, happy to see that his words had an effect on him. The detective held Kokichi closer than he was before, having a more secure hold on the smaller boy in front of him. A warm feeling pooled in his chest mixed with the happiness he had felt, wanting nothing more than to just hug the other close and comfort him. The whole moment just felt so... right. The slightly younger boy peeked out to look up at the ceiling before clutching onto Shuichi again. The detective still didn't know why he feared falling asleep under flat surfaces-Wait... If memory served him well, and it normally did it's best to. Akihito Yua's death involved a-.... Oh. OH. OH FUCK! Since Shuichi was damn sure Kokichi was Daisachi and Tajako, that meant he had witnessed her death. He saw his mother figure be... Crushed to death before his eyes... The realization hit full and it hit hard. Painfully hard. It was gut wrenching to think about, and just fuel for a damaged individual who only went through more suffering. 

Shuichi had held Kokichi close, knowing that holding onto him tightly wouldn’t erase anything that happened in the past. Shuichi could just only temporarily release it from his mind or provide comfort when the memories resurfaced... Making a decision, Shuichi had stood up off the floor while still holding onto Kokichi. The boy was light, so it was relatively okay for Shuichi to pick him up. He then carried Kokichi over to the bed and sat down on the cushioned surface of the bed. Shuichi leaned against the headboard of the bed while sitting up, holding Kokichi still but now placing the smaller boy in his lap so the two could remain close. Kokichi didn't move or budge when lifted up. He just let it happen until he was set down, clinging desperately to Shuichi, making sure the detective wouldn't vanish. So he wouldn't suddenly dissipate, to disappear suddenly, just to hold onto something. The boy shivered against the detective, and finally broke the silence, " Everyone I love goes away... Please don't go." This was another reason he was so damn scared of being in a relation-even a family one. He tried his best to single himself away from his friends, fearing they'd leave somehow. As Shuichi thought about the sentence, the more it made sense why he went out o his way to piss everyone off. His roommates were just ones that weren't effected. And now Shuichi was in the category. 

Even though the sentence that Kokichi had said made Shuichi realize how he would act towards his friends, it also technically was... an informal way of saying that he loved him? This in turn made Shuichi bring Kokichi as close as he could, holding onto him securely to show that he was here to stay. “ I won’t go.” He spoke softly “ I’m never going to let you feel alone ever again... I promise.” The other didn't respond in his hold. Much like a kid he acted like, he had actually tuckered himself out with so much emotional and mental insecurity for the day. When Shuichi adjusted himself he could feel a dampness on his shirt. Sure enough Kokichi had literally cried himself to sleep. For how much he made himself to be so big and uncaring, he really was just a lonely kid. Shuichi had noticed that the other had cried himself to sleep. The detective then slowly had began the lay down on the bed, holding Kokichi close and then slowly laying on his side so then Kokichi was actually touching the bed. He pulled the covers over them both with one hand, the other still holding onto Kokichi, and made sure the other was completely covered up. He then returned to holding Kokichi, bringing him close again. After a few moments, Shuichi had leaned down and softly pressed a kiss to the top of the purple haired boy’s head, feeling compelled to do so after all that just happened. Eventually, Shuichi had closed his eyes as well and drifted off to sleep with Kokichi. 

Shuichi didn't recall any dreams or nightmares this time around, however he did wake up to a new sensation he wasn't use to. Something warm holding onto him... Did they get a cat or a dog-oh wait... After ridding the morning weariness all the events of yesterday came flooding back and sure enough right beside him was Kokichi nuzzling up, either half awake or still asleep. It was hard to say, but he was still there right by his side, not locked away like some lunatic or a severely punished child. Shuichi looked down at Kokichi and how he was still there, safely situated in his arms. A happy smile grew on his face as he had held onto Kokichi a little tighter than he had been doing in his sleep, pulling him closer and just relaxing for the time being. This feeling definitely something he wasn’t used to, but he also wouldn’t mind at all if he had gotten used to it. Shuichi took a deep breath and exhaled it softly, closing his eyes again but not planning on returning back to sleep. It couldn’t hurt to stay like this just for a little longer, right. Well that's what the detective thought anyways. 

A few minutes went by before the door opened up and the space lover poked his head in before pulling back and closing the door softly not to disturb either of them. He quietly-for once mind you considering this was Kaito after all-went back downstairs. The red eyed girl looked up expecting something while she leaned against the kitchen's counter with the blonde, " Well?" 

He scratched the back of his neck unsure of how to start off, " Well... The lil' imp is still here, and uh... He's kinda sleepin' with Shuichi at the moment-like in his bed." Maki raised a thin brow, not really judging, just curious of how the hell that happened. 

Kaede had a big grin on her face, looking pretty satisfied with herself at the moment. “ I knew it!” She shouted, but still in a hushed tone. “ I mean, it doesn’t take a detective to figure out what that detective’s been doing.” She looked towards the both of them and continued speaking “ The day before yesterday when he came home he said he had gone on a date to Kit’s, right? Out of all the people we know, who would be childish enough to want to go on a date to a kids pizzeria? And when I asked him about who he went with, before I was interrupted, he was so nervous to say!” 

Maki gradually lifted her hand to her nose, massaging the ridge of it and taking in a deep inhale to sigh loudly. Kaito on the other hand gave a confused puppy expression. " Uhm... Wait, so let me get this straight. He's become friends with the little runt?" Maki's hand curled up so her eyes could shine over to Kaito, unsure how he wasn't getting this through his head. " What's that look for?!" He yelled quietly, not wanting to wake his friend up but also not wanting to deal with Kokichi's habits. 

She let out another sigh, " You want to tell him or should I?" 

Kaede looked over to Maki, letting out a soft sigh, “ I’ll do it,” She then looked over towards Kaito, planning to be extremely blunt with the trainer to try and get the message into his head as clearly as possible. “ They’ve probably become something more than friends, Kaito. They’re probably dating. You know, in love with each other. In a romantic way.” 

Kaito who at the moment was taking a sip of his drink as he listened to the girls coughed up some of his drink and held onto his nose as he coughed, " WH-WHAT?! Arrrrgh my nose!" Maki rolled the crimson eyes and started to roughly pat Kaito's back to help him but also to slap him for being loud. After he readjusted himself he coughed lightly, " A-Are you serious? Shuichi-I-i mean, I kinda' always knew he might'a been ya' know-but w-why the gremlin?!" He somewhat kept his voice down for the most part while Maki cleaned up the small mess he had made. 

Shuichi’s eyes had flung open when he had heard a loud yell coming from downstairs, wondering what in the world was going on. He glanced over towards the purple haired boy besides him, wondering if the noise had woken him up as well. Kokichi stirred slightly but hadn't fully woken up, more than likely still recovering from the over excretion the night before hand. Meanwhile, Kaede looked at Kaito and his whole reaction to it, happy that it had finally gotten through to him but now the other had so many questions that she really couldn’t answer. “ I mean, does it matter why?” She asked, “ Do we have to question it? Because I doubt it really had an answer. He probably just feels that way because he feels that way, and it’s not something he can just change.” 

Kaito raised his hand up a bit, " N-No, no, not really. I'm just kinda' shocked is all. I mean I'm not gonna' try to be a dick about it o-or not supportive, I just-just-" 

Maki gave a dull look, " You just don't like Kokichi." 

The sharply haired male sighed in defeat, slumping his arms to the side, " Yeaaah. I mean don't get me wrong, Shuichi is making the choice himself, I'm just hoping the little brat isn't manipulatin' him is all. You know he can get." 

Maki nodded in agreement, " Right. I agree, but again, it's not our place to interfere. From what I do know he just likes to toy with emotions and rationality. Which can be disastrous, and screw one up psychologically, but if it gets to that point I'm stepping in." 

Kaede had agreed with the both of them, nodding her head and adding on with a smile on her face. “ Yeah. I’m going to trust Shuichi and trust that he’s making a good decision for himself. But if things get too out of hand then I’ll probably say something about it. Even if I don’t exactly like Kokichi either.” She sighed softly and glanced off to the side, “ He just... deserves a good relationship.” 

The tall purple haired male sat in a chair, reviewing over the information they all came to as a conclusion, " Exactly. Just want 'em to have someone we can count on is all... I mean d-do ya' think Kokichi acts THAT different with 'em? That's the thing I can't figure out." He gave out a defeated sigh again, folding his arms and tapping his foot out of habit, " Just want 'em to be in a healthy relationship, but it's just so damn hard to trust the lil' brat." 

Kaede nodded “ I’m not exactly sure on if Kokichi acts differently around Shuichi or not. Maybe when it’s just the two of them Kokichi acts differently? Or maybe Kokichi just acts the same, it just doesn’t have the same effect on Shuichi as it does on the rest of us?” Kaede sighed, “ It’s hard to tell.” 

Maki listened to the two quietly before speaking, " He might be using him. I mean, you've caught him fussing with things he shouldn't stealing small things, being a public nuisance, constantly trying to push the line, being where he isn't allowed." Though the outlook was quite negative, it didn't mean it wasn't a possibility. 

Kaede listened to Maki, knowing that she had a very fair point there. There was just negative aspects about it that couldn’t just go ignored. Kaede nodded, “ That’s a possibility. So, we should just be on the lookout then. I feel bad that us, Shuichi’s friends, are questioning his choices, but...” She paused, “ It’s for his own good, right?” 

Shuichi watched the smaller boy stir slightly, wondering if he should be waking him up. It was morning, and Shuichi had no idea if the other had anything else planned or if he needed to go to work, something along those lines. It was probably best to start waking him up... But, how? Shuichi wasn’t sure how to ‘properly’ wake Kokichi up. Was there a proper way to wake someone up in the first place? Shuichi hesitantly used one hand to reach up and start to softly rub one of Kokichi’s shoulders. “ Kokichi...?” He spoke quietly and gently. 

The smaller boy muttered in his half asleep stage, " Mrmm, Aunt Ayako, I don't want to get up... Please just tell Uncle I'm sick..." He curled up again keeping his eyes closed, somewhat aware he was trying to be woken, but too out of it to notice where he was. 

Shuichi had lifted a brow slightly when Kokichi mentioned an Aunt and an Uncle, but didn’t really think too much about it. He just kept rubbing Kokichi’s shoulder and speaking gently “No, Kokichi. It’s me, Shuichi...it’s probably time to wake up.” 

Kokichi barred his teeth upon hearing it wasn't his aunt, still deprived from waking up to a clock or naturally, his first instinct was going through the sentence that it wasn't his aunt talking. That only meant his uncle, which in turn made him spring off from the bed and stumble over it and onto the floor. When he rose back up he had a pocket knife out from his backpack, " Get your own damn liqueur! I'll fucking poison you! I'll burn you alive you piece of shit!" He shouted out, holding the knife out. It was easy to say he was half asleep in some nightmare. 

Shuichi widened his eyes when Kokichi had suddenly sprung up, pulling out a pocket knife of all things. Shuichi quickly sat up on the bed, springing into action before his thoughts had a chance to keep up. Shuichi went to the edge of his bed, standing up and cautiously approaching Kokichi with his hands in front of him. “ N-No, Kokichi! It’s Shuichi! You know, the person your d-dating! You slept over at my place last night in my bed!” 

Maki swiftly glanced to the ceiling, " Hold on. Did either of you hear yelling?" On instinct, Kaito was the first to run out the kitchen near the den, nearly running into the wall, sliding on the floor to get himself to where the shouting was happening. Kaede had followed Kaito out of the kitchen a few seconds behind him, though she wasn’t nearly running as fast as he was and nearly sliding into things. 

Kokichi gave a harsh glare, eyes flowing with pure rage. A side that was more hostile than Shuichi had seen prior. His focus began to rise up as the nightmare started to melt away from reality, slowly freeing his mind. It took a moment before everything began to register in his lagged mind. " S-Shuichi?" He asked before even noticing he held the knife, quietly setting it to his side, still in hand, making sure this wasn't just a nightmare playing with his emotions and could switch on a dime back to how things were. 

Shuichi looked at Kokichi, relieved that the other had finally seemed to have woken up and come back to his senses. “ Y-Yeah, it’s me.” He gave the other a small reassuring smile before walking up towards him, and hesitantly giving him a soft hug. “ G-Good morning?” 

With the sudden hug, Kokichi's breath hitched, gripping the knife tighter and froze up. He started to view and analyze the situation, marking it off as not a nightmare and to not stab the person who held onto him. He had to play it off, " Nishishi, gotcha'~! Sorry, didn't mean to spook you so badly." He snickered, lightly pushing him away, still nervous he might accidentally slice him someway, somehow. 

That was when Kaito nearly kicked in the door, which resulted in him yelling out and cursing due to his foot hitting against the wooden door. He instead just opened it and looked in, " Owww fff-W-What's goin' on in here?!" 

Kokichi's masks flew on just as quickly as Kaito asked the question. he held up the knife and put his hand onto the detective's table, well more specifically onto a clip board clip he had gotten from work, " Ohhh nothing~! Just playing a game is all~." He grinned, focusing his key attention to his hand. " See it's easy! Oh, I have all my fingers, the knife goes chop chop chop. If I miss the spaces in-between my fingers will come off~." He sang out, skillfully stabbing at his hand. " And if I hit my fingers, the blood will soon come out~!" Thankfully he wasn't striking his hand, only the clip board, making sure he didn't wreck the table's surface. " But all the same I play this game cause that's what it's all about. Oh, chop chop chop chop chop chop. I'm picking up the speed. And if I hit my fingers then my hand will start to bleed~!" Kaito quietly watched him, a bit too shocked to try and stop him. Shuichi had widened his eyes, seeing how quickly Kokichi was able to come up with something so dangerous to cover up what had just happened. Shuichi could only assume that Kokichi’s shout was long enough to be heard through the house. Kaede eventually came running to the door, seeing everyone standing there and watching Kokichi narrowly missing his fingers with a knife. 

She was about to say something, but Shuichi had beat her to it. “ K-Kokichi!” He shouted, reaching out and gripping onto Kokichi’s wrist that was connected to the hand holding the knife, “ Stop that, it’s dangerous!” 

The slightly younger boy hadn't expected Shuichi to grab hold of wrist, thus making the blade slip and slice a bit of his own hand. Kokichi winced and took in a sharp inhale before dropping it and chuckling, " N-Nishishi, didn't hurt~! See all good, it could have been much worse." He examined the cut and smiled, " Nishishi, guess this makes us hand cut twins huh~?" Maki gave out a huff before walking off to retrieve the first aid, muttering how stupid Kokichi was being. 

Shuichi’s heart skipped a beat when the knife had sliced a bit of Kokichi’s hand, noticing that Kokichi had winced and took a quick and deep breath when the knife had cut him. Shuichi had looked at Kokichi, stating “ That’s a lie.” He grabbed Kokichi’s hand gently and inspected the cut for himself, “ It did hurt, I can tell.” 

Kaito backed out of the room, not really knowing what to do for the situation at hand, finding himself rather out of place. Maki came back only for Kokichi to smile, " Nishishi, no, not really. Maybe at first but not anymore. See?" He poked the cut which made Maki give a glare. 

" Stop that shit and let me wrap it up..." 

" Oh! Wow, the great child caretaker is gonna' help me with my booboo~?" Maki instead tossed the kit onto the plush bed and walked off. " Oooh, feisty." Kaede had watched Maki walk off, deciding to follow her out of the room to try and see if she needed to be calmed down at least a tiny bit. Kaito tagged along with them, chatting quietly, mainly getting a response from the blonde, but not that much luck from the ravenette. Shuichi had sighed softly when Maki had walked off, leaving the first aid kit behind. He walked over and grabbed the first aid kit, bringing it over and setting it on the table in the room. He opened the kit and grabbed onto Kokichi’s hand softly, first wiping the cut off with a disinfectant wipe that was in the kit. Sure he didn’t really know how to wrap bandages properly on himself..but on other people, he was fairly decent. Not the best at it, but good enough. 

Kokichi sat next to him when he took care of the cut, giggling as if he was having the time of his life. " Think that's good enough?" He asked, speculating it before answering himself before Shuichi could, " Yeah, that's good. It wasn't a deep cut, so that'll do. Thanks for treating my injury, Mister Detective. But..." He clicked his tongue, " Tch, aww maaaan, I lost! Congrats! You win!" he said with a bright smile. He was denying everything that happen prior to the others checking in on them. 

Shuichi had blinked softly when Kokichi had suddenly declared that he won, assuming that it had to do something with the 'knife game' he was trying to play. He also didn't explain what happened at all when he had woken up and why he was so hostile. Well... at least he had seemed to go back to normal after what had happened last night. The navy haired detective sighed softly, " I don't really think I was participating in the game." He looked at Kokichi, deciding to play along, " Even if I was, I grabbed your wrist, right? Doesn't that count as cheating?" 

" Hrmm... I guess you're right about that. Since you did, I guess you'll just have die like cheaters do~! Lucky you, I don't know how to do that really..." He smile slide into a mad grin, " That's a lie of course, I really do know how to end people's lives rather quickly. But I can spare you if you beg for it~! It's easy, just beg for your life like a dog~!" It was pretty easy to tell he was just fucking with him at this point. Sure he'd embarrass him, but it was safe to assume he wouldn't want him actually being humiliated into feeling worse then the worms in the dirt. 

Shuichi had sighed softly after Kokichi was messing with him, defiantly not going to beg a like a dog. He decided just to move on from the whole thing, looking at the purple haired trouble maker, " A-Anyway..." He spoke, changing the subject of the conversation into a more casual conversation " Did you sleep okay last night?" 

After noticing Shuichi didn't want to continue, he rolled his eyes, folding his arms. He may have dropped his guard a little too much the previous night, and going into that state always made him act and say things he tried so hard to bury away. " I slept fine, seriously you don't need to worry about a thing." He started to mentally beat the shit out of himself for saying and acting like that last night, because now it seemed Shuichi really did want to be with him. He couldn't have that, and his stupid weak inner self had admitted to him. Everything he built up just crumbled around him by his own doing... 

Shuichi had looked at Kokichi, raising a brow at his statement. Sure Kokichi seemed to go back to his normal self, but what did that mean in terms of how... the two of them were right now? The detective really had thought that he had broken down a wall or something, but it seemed like once Kokichi had pulled himself back together his walls were reinforced with weapons. Understandable, but disappointing...Shuichi put on a small smile " Well, of course I'm going to worry about you." He spoke, remaining upfront about everything and remaining slightly curious about how Kokichi would react to it. " I care about you, after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! If Kokichi really is Daisachi, that... Is the reason he's afraid of sleeping under a flat surface.


	31. Woke Up, Fell Out of Bed, And I Went Into A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wake up, get to Yakuza, then go down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again... Because Kokichi is so f'ed up in this AU is why i can never play him to the damn max like in V3 ;w;  
> ... or at least it's my excuse for not going full on ham cuz in game I don't think you ever seem him break down, and I don't think I can do in-game Kokichi proper justice at playing him , so he may come off as kind ooc I guess.

Now that he was fully awake at this point, the mischief maker's shattered barrier was busy being rebuilt up only to have a crack appear, he didn't know how to react. Sure part of him was happy as he could ever be, to finally have someone like this since he let Shuichi in more than any of his members. But another part was petrified how much Shuichi seemed to care and actually wanted to be with him. He had gone too deep and he couldn't scramble out. It was enjoyable to tease him around, but to actually having him by his side... Rantaro and the others warned, even he warned himself, but now it was too late. Shuichi was going to end up with a weak unstable lab rat instead of what he had spent the nearly past four to five years making. He didn't want the detective to be upset on rejection, but he didn't want to go back to his old life of being a coward. He gulped, " You really shouldn't." 

Shuichi looked down at Kokichi, knowing very well he couldn't back down on this now. Even if last night he was more vulnerable and more open than ever before, Shuichi had still made Kokichi a promise that he wouldn't leave Kokichi alone and that he wouldn't ever leave him. The detective planned to keep that promise. He shook his head softly, denying Kokichi's statement. " I can't just stop caring about you, you know. I can't help but care about you and want to help, I can't even help how I feel about you." He spoke the next few words with more sincerity in his tone, " You opened the door and let me in, and I promised you last night that I'd never leave." 

The purple haired boy clenched his teeth and pushed Shuichi back, " Well you may just have to!" He yelled out quietly, not wanting to stir up attention to the other three people in the home. " I can't-can't! I can't go back to being like-like 'THAT'! If I go back to being 'THAT', I won't be able to protect anyone again!" He panted lightly and sighed out, " ... Look. I do want to be in a relationship with you. But I can't let myself go back to being how you saw me last night. When I do-people get hurt. People die... " Perhaps if he had a different life, he'd be more clever, more cunning, more conniving. But his life had been screwed up so much, that he couldn't be as shifty as he wanted to be. 

Shuichi had stumbled back a little when pushed, but remained standing in front of Kokichi. It was reassuring to hear that he actually had wanted to be in a relationship, but he felt bad that Kokichi had thought he couldn't be vulnerable. He took a step towards the other again, getting closer to him, " I... I'm not saying that you have to go back to how you acted last night. You don't have to change the way you act, or how vulnerable and open you are. I have these feelings for you before you even showed me that side of yourself. So... just be however you want to be. It won't make any difference to me or my feelings at all. I know how you feel about me now as well, and that's enough." 

Kokichi seemed to calm down a bit, sure he wasn't told on how to behave, but how he 'bettered' himself was warped into his mind, pushing himself to say this was suppose to be how he should act. It stuck with him like piece of gum with super adhesive glue. " ... Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. How I am now..." He trailed off, getting the knife that had sliced into him, " Can't really be controlled. It's out of my bounds. Just saying; I'm highly unpredictable, even to myself at times." He showed off the bandage on his hand to further evidence. He wanted to know what Shuichi was getting into. 

Shuichi had nodded after Kokichi had showed off his bandages, giving the other a kind smile. " Got it. That's nothing that I didn't anticipate before I had gotten myself into this anyway." He then reached over and grabbed Kokichi's injured hand lightly with his own bandaged up hand. He held Kokichi's hand within his own while speaking again, this time seeming to be back to his less than confident social skills with a soft blush on his face from the contact, " So, um... want to go downstairs and get some breakfast?" 

Kokichi's fingers wrapped around the others, " Mmm, sounds boring. Though I have an idea for 'breakfast'." He grinned, trailing a finger down Shuich's chest before laughing, " I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Nishishishi, the look on your face is priceless!" He snickered to himself as the blush on Shuichi bled out more into a dark shade of red. Before Shuichi could settle his embarrassment Kokichi was already out the room. The dark red face of embarrassment lingered on Shuichi's face for a couple of moments even after Kokichi had left the room, leaving him frozen where he stood. It was only the few moment after Kokichi left that he managed to shake his head, pat himself on the cheeks slightly and recompose himself. Shuichi then walked out of the room at a quick pace, trying to catch up with Kokichi before he managed to get too far. 

Breakfast was oddly normal or as much as it could go with Kokichi teasing Kaito on how he looked like a goat due to the hair on his chin he had grown out. Maki of course got onto him like he was a small child taunting another child, scolding him and Kaito both frequently. Kokichi really made it hard for people to be around him, thus why he had warned Shuichi about it. He was so use to lying that he couldn't stop himself anymore. Shuichi knew that others weren't a big fan of Kokichi and he had been reminded of that frequently through the interactions and conversations that were either with or about Kokichi, so it wasn't like he was clueless to what he had gotten himself into. But, breakfast felt normal enough for Shuichi. Even though he hated to admit it, since it was a result of the trauma that Koichi had went through, he had gotten oddly used to Kokichi's constant lying and teasing and poking fun at other people. Even if Kokichi had teased him about things as well. But it wasn't something the detective disliked or hated, that's for sure. Just maybe the cause behind it. 

Thankfully for his roommate's sake things finally calmed down as both Kaede and Maki went to work. The only way Kaito wasn't annoyed further without being held back by the reserved girl was that Hajime came by to pick up his partner, a bit startled upon seeing the mischievous waiter. " Good luck Hajime, he's in a really good mood." Hajime put a palm to his face and sighed out. Both were supportive for Shuichi it was just... Kokichi's actions made it hard to be around. Especially when it came to being in a confined space of the patrol car. 

Shuichi knew exactly that Kokichi wasn’t the best person to be around for his friends and his coworker, but he was happy that they weren’t being totally dismissive of the purple haired trouble maker being there. Once Shuichi had gotten into the patrol car, he looked to Hajime with a smile that said ‘I’m sorry’ but words that were much different, “ G-Good Morning.” 

" Morning... Morning Kokichi." Hajime bit his lip upon saying the energetic boy's name. Aside from that Kokichi remained fairly quiet until they pulled into the parking lot of the family diner. Kokichi babbled on about lies and tidbits that had nothing to do with anything, like to escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaw, one would need to push their thumb into its eyeballs, making it let you go instantly. The fingerprints of a koala are so indistinguishable from humans that they have on occasion been confused at a crime scene. And prairie dogs say hello by kissing. 

Thankfully he got his work clothes on quickly and slid into the diner, letting Hajime let out a deep exhale. Shuichi had listened to whatever Kokichi had to say, wondering why he would go on and on about random things like that but still showing he was interested anyway. When Kokichi had slid into the diner, he turned and looked towards Hajime before giving him a guilty smile and muttering, “ S-Sorry to make you deal with that so early in the morning...” 

" Ehh, I'd have to deal with him either way, so no harm. By my guess he didn't know what to say and was 'trying' to behave for you, so he just babbled on about whatever." he shrugged to make his coat fit better in the cozy warmth of the diner. He took his seat and rung up the plump chef, avoiding Kokichi who had rushed off to get cleaning supplies for the tables, hopping to work for once instead of just bugging the shit out of the detectives. " Alright before we chat normally, need to know where we're going. So where to today? Mansion, Zoo, Mayor's, Factory, Institution, or... The Local Yakuza?" 

Shuichi had thought for a second, trying to decide where would be the best place to gather information, know that he knew more then he did yesterday about Kokichi. He would like to investigate about more things surrounding Tengan, but Shuichi wasn’t sure if he could go in there without a hundred percent understanding about the octuplets and what their goals were. He needed to know the full picture about everything before confronting ‘the king’. He thought to himself for a few moments before speaking out, “ I think we should try to attempt to speak with the Yakuza today.” 

Hajime had hesitated on The Yakuza for a reason, slowly turning to his partner with a worried face. it didn't last long as he quickly composed himself, taking a deep inhale as Kokichi set down their drinks, " Oh! Oh, watch out everyone, Hajime's about have a biiiig stroke!" The detective threw a glare, making the rascal of a waiter skate off snickering. 

" Hrrrng... That guy-Anyways, alright. Hope you've gotten over most of your uh... Disposition." Hajime gulped, referring to the shyness and stuttering his partner had when confronted by an intimidating force. " We're just lucky to get in because I know the Fuyuhiko. otherwise we'd have to get Kiibo, Ishimaru, and Haiji in on this." 

Shuichi had nodded when Hajime had explained the situation to him. For the most part, Shuichi really was getting better to talking to people he didn’t know... or he thought he was getting better at least. He’d just have to keep his shy stutter under wraps when they were in there. “ Okay.” Shuichi spoke, agreeing with Hajime. The other detective must not be a real fan of the Yakuza, judging from all the nervous ticks and reactions Hajime seemed to be having from just speaking about them. 

Hajime decided to change the topic quickly and coughed into his arm to divert his thoughts, " S-So... Besides that, you heard about the meteor shower coming up? Every year they've got one. I mean yeah it's a bit scary, but every time, they just shrink in size and can be collected around the next town around the city. You can easily give it to that one place that has that space program." Shuichi recalled the area. It's where Kaito wanted to go once he fulfilled his training to work there and sail space, seeing the star in all their glory. The brunette rubbed the back of his neck, " Unfortunate that the place might be shut down." 

Shuichi definitely knew of the meteor shower that was coming up, but didn’t know that the place that Kaito had wanted to go after he was gone with his training much be shut down. “ Shut down?” Shuichi asked rather quickly, “ Do you know why it might be shut down?” 

Hajime scratched the bottom of his chin, " Rumor has it some people had gotten a hold of some rights with the place due to one of the astronauts being killed trying to return home to his wife and kid. Lots of rumors went around, but I don't know many of them due to when that shit happen, I'd have been in... Let's see, like ten or eleven at the time. All I know is that only now, the brother of the dead guy is pressing charges and suing the place. Not sure if you remember it. It was on the news for a limited time till they took it off the T.V. since the guy was pretty well known, considered a hero to some kids. I think there was a documentary of how he use to be a cop or a firefighter rescuing kids." 

Shuichi had nodded softly in response to Hajime, “ Yeah... I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about that before and I know the guy you’re talking about. I’m also pretty sure that I’ve heard my roommate talk about him in a positive light too.” 

Hajime gave a soft smile, " Oh heh, Kaito right? Ohoho, yeah, I can only imagine. That's where he got that whole luminary of the stars thing." He chuckled out, recalling the times he'd pass by Shuichi's childhood friend. " he got it off that guy." Hajime pointed forward and slightly up, " ' Fear not, for I, Takara Katsurou-Masahiko, Dignitary of Space, will travel the vast sky above!'" He quoted the long forgotten astronaut. " Heh, that documentary I watched, man, it's hard to forget that line... Just hope his wife and kid are doing okay. I mean, you'd think his wife would have sued first..." 

Shuichi’s smile after Hajime had reenacted the line that Kaito cleverly changed from the documentary, but the smile faded softly at the last part of the statement and caused him to think. The other detective was right. Why didn’t the wife sue first? Maybe she was just in too much grief to try and sue? Maybe the company payed her so it wouldn’t be public? Maybe something happened to her? Maybe she didn’t care about her husband that much? The list of possibilities about what could have happened could run on and on forever, honestly. “ Yeah, that would be expected...” 

" Well... Anyways I'm sure they're doing just fine. So, you want to get together with me and Chiaki, go see the shower? You can invite your friends over-..." He paused briefly, " And Kokichi... Town center usually starts up a small meeting and fair. People chip in to cook food and it's just a good get together. Lots of faces all around." 

The event kind of sounded fun... but Shuichi knew he had already made plans with Kokichi that night to stay as far away as possible from the meteor shower. So, Shuichi had shook his head in refusal followed by an apologetic smile. “ Thanks for the offer, but I already have plans with Kokichi for when the shower’s going on. So, sorry.” He spoke, not really including why the two of them had planned to skip out on the festivities. 

Hajime gave a confused look, unsure of why the two wouldn't go to the event, " What's more important then seeing the showe-..." In a hast thought, something clicked, making gawk a bit. He peeked around and put his arm over Shuichi's shoulder to whisper to him quietly as possible, " Look, I'm fine with this and all, but I think you may be going in a bit too fast but if you guys are doing that, just... you know, be careful okay? Like if you need protection, go ask Iruma-j-just saying." 

Shuichi’s entire face went a bright red when Hajime had leaned in close and had automatically assumed they’d be doing something like... like that instead of going to see the meteor shower. He shook his head quickly held out his hands in front of him and shook them slightly along with his head as if that would help his verbal defense. “ N-No!! I-I.... I-It’s nothing like that at all!!” He spoke probably a little louder then he should have in a embarrassed panic, the previous statement having caught him off guard. 

Luck was treating Shuichi today as there weren't anyone at the cozy diner but them and the two workers. However this did attract the attention of the chef and waiter, poking his head to look over his shoulder as Kokichi cleaned a marbled table, giving a questionable expression. " Ooooh what'd mister detective do~?! Did he come to the understanding of you should totally get with Komadea?!" 

Hajime gave a searing glare, " No you idiot! Mind you're own business" 

" But what if it isss my business~?!" 

Shuichi had looked over at Kokichi with his face still red in embarrassment. He knew if he had told Kokichi about what they were talking about, the purple haired troublemaker might to something to tease him about it. So, he tried to pacify the situation while still recovering from the comment Hajime made, “ I-It’s really nothing Kokichi, y-you don’t have to worry about it.” 

The prankster skated over, grin gradually growing wider and wider, " Ohhh, don't think I didn't see your face mister detecti-" He halted in place as Hajime took out a grape panta drink, unopened and waved it like ticking clock. 

" Fetch!" Hajime called out, flinging it out from his grip, making the skating waiter swiftly back away to catch the flavored soda with a big smile on his face. " Whew..." 

Shuichi had blinked softly when the drink was thrown and Kokichi had skated away to catch it, not expecting something like that to happen at all. That was one way to keep Kokichi at bay, he guessed. He sat there in his seat, completely baffled from everything that had just happened in the past minute. He opened his mouth to speak softly in confusion, “ U-Um... H... Huh?” 

" I picked that up before heading to your house." he gave out a small sigh, " Chiaki will understand since it WAS going to be for her, but, it was an emergency concerning you." Hajime gave a small smile, patting his shoulder. " It's his favorite drink. I just don't enjoy spending the money to bribe him off, but what are you going to do about it right?" He shifted his eyes, " Sorry about that by the way..." He said, pretty ashamed of himself for jumping to 'that' as the conclusion instead of fully understanding what Shuichi had meant by plans with the trouble maker. 

Shuichi was... flattered? That Hajime would use something he got for Chiaki as a distraction so Shuichi wouldn’t get embarrassed further. So, when Hajime had given him an apology for jumping to..that..as the reason why the two of them weren’t going to see the shower. He nodded quickly, giving the other a smile “ N-No, it’s totally okay. Y-You didn’t really have anything else to go off of, so... I-It’s okay.” 

For the rest, Hajime finished his morning meal quickly to get out of the awkward atmosphere he had created, waving a good bye to the chef. When Kokichi had finally noticed they were gone he scoffed near his boss, " Tch, bamboozled again..." 

Hajime drove off into the bitter cold to the more oriented style of the town, parking near the market place, " It'll be easier to get there by foot. They typically don't enjoy seeing cars go by their estate ever since an incident occurred with a rival family driving up and trying to shoot up the place. So just keep close to me." Hajime instructed as he got his phone out to call up the baby faced Yakuza leader, letting him know they we're Shuichi had nodded at Hajime’s explanation of things, more than willing to walk through the cold if that was the case and was going to stay close to his partner anyway. He was the one who had connections to the Yakuza anyway, while Shuichi had nothing. He had waited for Hajime to finish his call with the gang’s leader patiently, knowing to follow whatever he said to do in this situation. 

The lead detective started the trek with his partner, crossing the hustle and bustle of the markets, to the small snowy field leading up to the oriental estate that looked from the olden days. Stable, dignified, and giving off a rather intimidating aura all around, on the small hill it sat upon. Gated walls covered the building except for the front where tiles and koi ponds filled the court yard that led up to the crimson textured doors. Shuichi had made sure to stay close to Hajime when they were walking around the crowd and to the estate. Just from the looks of it, this definitely could be a building that houses the Yakuza. Secluded gated walls, koi ponds and crimson doors. Everything looked more on the expensive side, which automatically made everything more intimidating. Shuichi found himself trying to muster up his more brave side, knowing he couldn’t let his shyness overtake him while he was in there. 

Some larger men noticed Hajime walk over who put his hands up, " Easy, easy. We're just here to talk to the big guy. Got a warrant, just looking for one thing okay? Unless you guys have seen a tiara." The men chattered among themselves, shaking their head and one escorting the two up to the large doors, opening it for them both. Inside were more expensive and expansive things. Nice sleek furniture, chandelier, vases, smooth clean red carpeting, mahogany wooding, two sets of stairs leading up to the second floors, attached to the other, ornate doors. It looked more like a rich and fancy theater. Nearby the stairs stood the raven haired woman that had been close to ending Shuichi's life, Mukuro. The man walked to her, informing her to take the two to their clan's leader. She rolled her eyes briefly before signaling them to follow behind and up the stairs. Shuichi followed Hajime around the interior of the estate like a little duckling, closely while looked at everything in his surroundings. Which were completely decked out in very nice belongings that Shuichi couldn’t help but either put a price tag to or comment on in his mind. When he had seen Mukuro, Shuichi instantly remembered the moment the two had ‘met’, a brief shiver going down his spine as they followed her up the stairs. 

The two were eventually lead around a hall or two until the weapon savvy girl pushed open two large doors open. Inside the long drawn out room was a long rug leading to soft chairs placed on each side of the rug but not on it. Down at the back at the end sat a nicely attuned table and a much large chair. In the seat was the baby faced Yakuza member filling out some papers while a woman with silver hair, glasses, something behind her back, and an un-amused look just like Kirigiri or Maki would have. The shorter male looked up and gave a small nod to Mukuro who then went to pull over two chairs to the desk. Hajime took a bow and sat onto one of the seats after giving Shuichi a nudge to do the same. Shuichi had followed suit of his partner, bowing softly and sitting in the other seat that was brought out for him. The navy haired detective’s anxiety about going to see the Yakuza was all good when they were just talking about it, but now actually being in the situation had made him realize why Hajime seemed so frightened and hesitant about the whole thing. Since Hajime had known the baby faced Yakuza member, Shuichi had thought it would be best to leave the talking to him. " Alright, so what's going on?" 

Hajime gave a small inhale to muster up some formality, " Rumor has it D.I.C.E. may have hidden that tiara around your estate." 

Fuyuhiko raised a brow, " Really? Huh, normally they leave us alone." The one eye glinted to Shuichi, making him smirk, " Heh, calm down kid, you're fine as long as Hajime's good with ya'. Just don't go snooping about is all." 

Hajime sighed lightly, " He's... nervous is all. But anyways, as you were saying?" 

The short trimmed blonde looked to his assistant, " Mukuro if you would, please get some tea for our guests." The black haired girl gave a small huff before receding out the room. " Right. See, D.I.C.E. doesn't typically fuss with us, they keep their shit out from ours. Hell, whenever they've come by here, we've seen them steal small things. Never money and they typically avoid us. Only time they come near us is to warn us about other clans, one of my boys making a fuss with civilians, or if there's something going on. It's weird... They're like... These lil' pesky messengers. Only guess why they tell me about my boys is because they might not want civilians getting hurt. Never seen them harm anyone, weird enough that is." 

Wait... They helped...? Why would they go out of their way to warn these guys about other clans? Shuichi had thought about it, knowing that D.I.C.E. tended to do good things sometimes in ways that maybe broke the law a little bit. Or just generally caused harmless trouble. Maybe the gang had told them about other clans potentially going after them because they wanted the conflict to be put out quickly? Or maybe they owed this clan a favor, or something of the like? But on top of figuring out D.I.C.E.’s interactions with the Yakuza, he also had to figure out how to slip some other questions in that would potentially help him learn more about Kokichi and his past and or present situation. All without Hajime finding out... and Shuichi highly doubted there would be a time in here where the two of them would be separated. Shuichi had decided to be upfront about his thoughts, looking towards Fuyuhiko and forcing his stutter back. “ Has... Has D.I.C.E ever tried to bargain with you about anything? Like initiating deals or anything of the like?” 

" Heeey, he talks!" Fuyuhiko gave a grin, deserving a look from his high school friend, letting him clear his throat, " Aherm... Sorry, right. That's just the thing. They've never bargained with us, never asked for anything. It's just like, give us a heads up. They're fucking weird. Granted I didn't enjoy the play being in distraught, but I'd rather not kill them. It's like... I don't know, maybe they think of this town as home and want to preserve it. Much like my father and my father's father and so on. I'm the sixth generation of The Kuzuryuu Clan. We've held our ground to make sure this damn town doesn't end up like other cities. Peko." he suddenly called to the woman beside him, " They've actually sabotaged other clans, stole their weapons, popped their tires, stole cars, irritated the shit out of other clans. Peko Could you get those surveillance clips and photos?" 

Peko looked towards the blonde, nodding quickly with the same un-amused look on her face she had on most of the time. “ Yes, right away.” She replied before walking out of the room at a quick pace to get what was requested. 

Shuichi was a little embarrassed by Fuyuhiko teasing him slightly for actually speaking up, but had forced himself to get over it quickly. So, the gang certainly did favors for this clan over the other clans. Maybe it was because they really were trying to preserve the town instead of trying to ruin it? That would make sense, because D.I.C.E. seemed to be a lot about helping people in the town... just in unconventional ways. “ That would make sense, if they were favoring you because they wanted to preserve the town. Seeing different things that D.I.C.E. has done at other locations in the town, how they do things that benefit the people of the town...” 

Fuyuhiko nodded, " They are very strange I must say... They do these good deeds, yet they constantly paint themselves as a gang like villains. I just don't understand... They even warned me about an assassination attempt on me one time." 

Hajime spoke up, " The Madarai brothers?" 

The short male nodded, " Yeah. Funny how the other clans hired a hit-man when normally they enjoy handling things themselves. Even over the most petty of things, they'd enjoy handling it on their terms unless someone got too sick and dealt the dirty money to off me." This seemed to be the only connection, not strong, but just there, adding into the pile of questions... 

Shuichi’s interest had perked up a little at the mention of the Madarai brothers, noting the small connection. Still, it prompted more questions, but that doesn’t mean the questions could go unanswered, “ About the Madarai brothers..” He spoke, “Is there anything you can tell us about them?” Shuichi knew it didn’t pertain to the tiara at all, but if Hajime asked about it later he could just tell him it was related to the footage that he had witnessed yesterday and that Haiji had questioned him watching. 

Mukuro finally came back handing them tea, receiving a thank you. Before Hajime could accept it, his phone rang. He sighed and got up, " Sorry, need to take this." He said, answering it and walking out of the long room. 

Fuyuhiko's stare went to Mukuro, " Follow him please. Don't... Hurt him." 

" B-but sir, you'll be alone with this one!" 

The Yakuza side of the baby faced boy shined through as he gave a harsh glare, " You don't think I know that? I'll be fine. Sides Peko will return shortly." 

Mukuro raised her voice slightly, " But sir-" 

" NOW..." Fuyuhiko nearly barked out, making the aggressive girl do a quick 'I'm watching you' signal to the detective before walking out. " Sorry, but I'd rather have Hajime with you or her just not around you. Since that's taken care of, the brothers are all hit men-well aside from one. Smart guy, isn't going to end up like his brothers. Only thing I can really tell was that they were pretty notorious and would leave calling cards behind back in the big city and neighboring cities near us. But three or four years ago, they started popping up here and each of them were killed. It's strange because last year one tried to assassinate me. Hehe, I took care of him. And before you pull out the cuffs, they were rightfully trespassing." 

This was definitely convenient...Shuichi was almost glad that Hajime had to leave the room to take the call, because now Shuichi could be free to ask more questions that weren’t exactly pertaining to the tiara at all. “ Do you have any suspicions as to why they would start popping up here?” He asked, “ Or of any other of their targets other than yourself?” 

The Japanese mob boss adjusted himself in his chair to think, " Only thing I can think of is someone was on the hit list. One died, so they brought in another and so on. According to the brother that lives here, they tended to claim to other people that they were immortal, as they can carry on each other's work if one or more of them is wounded, or even dies. So that could be a possibility. Who would they want to kill? Dunno'. Surprised they didn't aim for that geezer that owns the factory, or the mayor, or even sent more after me." 

Shuichi had looked at the mob boss in front of him, noting that by his statement he seemed to have some opinions on Tengan at least. But it seemed like there was a hit list of sorts, maybe Kokichi was unknowingly on that hit list? But what was the reason why they didn’t get Tengan? Sure, the man would probably be wanted to be taken down by others in the town, but why wasn’t there at least an attempt? Was Tengan connected to the brothers somehow? All the questions kept moving around in his mind before he finally came up with a solid question, “ Do you know anyone who was on this hit list? Was it public knowledge?” He asked 

He shook his head, a frown on his face matching a furrow of his blond brows, " Nah. I mean when they were in a big city oddly enough they would, because they'd leave something behind. But apparently they never successfully got a hit in this town or there'd be a dead guy with something they had stolen from a previous victim. All that Peko and Hajime were able to dig up was from a girl from the big city, telling them that they had an M.O. And that was, kill a hit target, steal something they had on them. Their next target, once killed, would place what they stole last time and steal something new from their newest hit and so on.Fucking weird. Hit list are more than likely noted with the department in the big city, not so much here." 

Shuichi had nodded, noting that a lot of what they did seemed to be in the big city. So, what were they doing here then? That was the question. But he knew that the mob boss wouldn’t have the answer to that question, at least Shuichi didn’t expect him to. It was at this moment that the silver haired girl had walked in with a laptop and a few discs in her possession. “ As you requested, young master.” She spoke in a firm voice, placing the items on the desk in front of him. “ I apologize that it took longer than expected, the footage was in different places.” 

The baby-faced boss nodded, " It's fine Peko, really. Thank you for fetching them." He got up from his seat, going to a T.V. set nearby in the corner that had been placed on a rolling table, putting in a disc and sliding the photographs to Shuichi. While the disc took it's time to start up, Shuichi could see various activities of the gang running from some burly people with weapons. Others were of them popping tires, berating them with eggs while another snuck off with the guns along other things. Noticeable masks were seen. A fox, rat, sloth, rabbit, gorilla, lion, cat, along with others that Shuichi had seen at Kit's. Sometimes they had the deer masks, and sometimes they had horror themed masks when nearing the holidays. The footage that showed on the T.V. gave out more of these situations in action. 

Shuichi had looked at what was shown to him, noting that everything that was done was either to prevent more violence or done without using violence. That definitely was D.I.C.E alright... and the familiar masks that he had seen matched the ones he had seen before and with the animals he had seen at Kit’s. Shuichi did wonder if those masks were based off of the animatronics, it wouldn’t be that long of a stretch. “ Well... it doesn’t seem like their doing any psychical harm to anyone really. More like preventing violence... so their motive really is to preserve the town as well.” 

" That's what I figure." The mob boss shrugged. 

That was when Hajime came back in, " Shuichi, we need to go. I asked Taka and Makoto to take Kiibo around the Institution to look for any clues and Kiibo came up with some odd analysis on some burned up grass that never grew back nearby a sewer exit a mile away. Oddly enough he was able to pull up some info on the chemicals which lead to a type of bleach and other things the institution uses. We've got Donavan at the station in for questioning along with the guy who keeps the surveillance cameras." 

Fuyuhiko gave a soft sigh, " Peko escort them please." 

Hajime quickly asked, " If you find anything let me know okay?" 

" Nah..." 

Hajime to a second look, " W-Wait what? Why not?!" 

The mobster chuckled out, " Because I love seeing you scrunch your face up. Of course I'm going to search." 

" ... Why do you feel the need to do this?" 

" Because it's funny." 

Shuichi had listened to Hajime, wondering what the chemicals had actually meant. He started to come up with multiple things in his mind while the other two were making casual banter. Afterwards, the silver haired girl had led them out of the estate and towards their patrol car. Finally the two were escorted to the patrol car, Hajime bowing as thanks, " Thank you Peko, I wish you luck finding any clues or whereabouts on tiara. Sorry for coming over unexpectedly today. Not sure if you guys had something planned or anything." He apologized as he sat into the seat. 

Peko gave the superior detective a curt nod followed by a quick reassurance “ Don’t worry about such things. The young master typically enjoys your visits anyway. I also think the young master enjoyed the presence of you as well, Mister Saihara.” 

Shuichi blinked softly, a small smile on his face “ Well, um, I... enjoyed visiting?” 

Hajime whispered over, " Nice save Shuichi, nice save." He then replied back to the Yakuza woman and nodded, " I enjoyed it as well. If I'm not busy further in the future, I'll try t swing by without lugging work." With that he drove off to the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The big stroke saying is from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XML1baTZrc (Sorry for the shitty quality but the good one was taken down, and this is not my video...)
> 
> Hajime doesn't know Kokichi's fear, and well... He might have the Man's Nut item with him, so he would just assume...
> 
> If you've ever played or watched someone play yakuza 0, kiwami 1 and or 2 the main headquarters looks like this place, such good games  
> \----------  
> More names I looked up that I can't exactly remember...  
> Takara - Treasure/Precious  
> Katsu - Victory   
> Rou-Son?  
> Masa - Good/Proper/Right  
> Hiko - Boy


	32. I Know We Can Make It Better Than It Ever Was

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *One armed Haiji rage intensifies*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All cuz Shuichi told Hajime the places, making him want to search near that area, thus finding 3 yer old evidence!  
> Also...  
> I'm not trying to use too many ocs, so... This new guy is also from a novel.

Of course when getting there, they got a saluted greeting from the zealous Ishimaru. " Greetings Shuichi and Hajime!" 

" Hey Taka, what's going on?" 

The big bushy eye-browed officer pointed, " Interrogation room B. Haiji and Kiibo are trying speaking with the two in question. Eddy Donavan is suspected of murder by..." He gagged, " Dumping the body i-in acid, then taking it out to a sewer a few years ago. With Kiibo's heightened sight, he was able to analyze it of a concoction the janitor uses at the institute. The manager of the facility gave them tapes from that day, all recorded and locked in storage. The one running security must have either forgotten it or did not check the tapes! O-Or possibly covered it up alongside with Eddy..." He spoke glumly. 

Hajime sighed, " Alright, when do we get a crack at them?" 

" Once Haiji is done! Chiaki and Makoto are checking the tapes." He pointed over, letting Hajime nod before going to the other two. 

Shuichi had wanted to speak with Eddy about more things anyway, so bringing him to the police station was more... convenient? In a way? But not really, considering the circumstances that the other was brought here. For the time being until he had gotten the whole story, he put his thoughts aside and walked with Hajime to Makoto and Chiaki to see what could be pulled out from the tapes. The gaming girl nearly hopped up, her cat hoodie following not far behind in the jump, pointing to the screens, " See right there!" 

Makoto watched, commenting, " I don't see anything." 

Hajime intruded, breaking up the two from their squabble, " Okay, okay. Class is in session, what's the problem? Did you put Taka's stuff in jello again?" 

The short light lavender haired girl puffed up her cheeks in resentment, rewinding the security footage, " No, and part of that was because of Mondo. Here, watch." She hit the play button revealing many screens spliced onto the large monitor screen they ha been watching. In one of the cameras, without warning, two small things fell from the where the ceiling would have been. Possibly a ventilation. Suddenly a tall slender man, with long flowing hair and tongue landed onto the tile below where the camera watched. The man threw something at the camera and it went to static. The slim man continued to other cameras doing the same, but avoiding any that had people in view. In another was Eddy cleaning a hallway and guards on duty. The only other available one was set in a hallway, overlooking a room, with doctor dragging a rather large toy of some sort. It was hard to identify what toy it was-or at the very least the species. But it was some large plush by the looks. It defiantly wasn't a body due to the doctor being able to lift it up to open a door. 

Hajime furrowed his brows, " How did he get in? Why didn't security call the guards in?" 

Chiaki poked him in the side, " Not that! That!" She said, pointing to another camera's view. It was just the back of the building where some cars were parked but nothing else... Until Shuichi noticed some specks of the pavement started to move down to the building, slowly. 

Shuichi was surprised to see the iconic long hair and tongue of one of the Madarai brothers, wondering along with Hajime how he got it but more importantly why he was even there. But, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Chiaki pointing to another camera view. Upon inspection, he saw the specks of the pavement that had started to move and widened his eyes a little, “ Wh-What is that...?” He asked himself softly, watching the specks as they moved. 

Makoto tilted his head in a puppy dog type of fashion as Chiaki rewound it and played again, " Riiight there!" She called out before enhancing it. Sure enough some of the specks were moving. 

" W-What the?" The shorter boy gasped out. 

Hajime squinted to get a better view, " I... I think I see a bit of a shadow." 

There was a small bit of shadow coming from behind the specks, rectangle in a way. Along with a tip of something that should not have been there. At the side was a tip of a pinky... Sliding with the specks in sync. Shuichi had leaned in closer to the screen slightly, but also trying not to block anyone’s view. When he saw the tip of what looked like a pinky finger along with the specks, of course he would point it out to the three others besides him and verbalize his thoughts, “ That looks like the tip of a pinky finger... but why would that of all things be doing there? Let alone floating?” 

Hajime closed his eyes to delve into his mind, avoiding stupid hypothesis and going to an actual conclusion instead of falling over like an idiot, " Chiaki, what were the tapes in the morning?" She rewound the footage all the way back to early in the morning, slowly moving it to the evening when the cars in the back and front weren't as packed in. In that one camera came a shadow from a tree then a blur going onto the pavement. She paused on the blur and enhanced the image to zoom in. " Heh, sneaky bastard. That asshole was able to get the look of the pavement and put it on some board or something, making him blend in and literally walk to somewhere the cameras have a blind spot. That's how he got in. But why didn't staff get announced? " 

Shuichi thought for a moment about Hajime’s explanation while looking at the screen vacantly. There had to be a certain way that he had managed to get in and avoid all of the staff members as well as the cameras in the process, he just had to figure out a way to spell it out in his head that made sense...after a moment of two of having his eyes closed, Shuichi had opened them and spoke “ The Ventilation system?” He asked, “ If I recall there was a piece of footage where there was a few stray objects falling from where the ceiling should have been. That would be a place where no staff or cameras could see him.” 

Chiaki confirmed the suspicions by pausing and zooming into that could have fallen, " He's right. Two screws..." Both of the brunettes shifted their heads in thought as to why security hadn't called the staff. Hell there was a camera outside of the security and camera's office. They had placed just outside with no blind spots, in case a patient got out and decided to visit the security room. No moving tiles or anything, so the hit-man didn't go near there. As the two started to converse on the odd behavior, Shuichi's eyes watched over the screens, eventually to Eddy's in particular. It happen for a split second but as the tape reversed itself and played as Chiaki tried to look for any clues, had Eddy faintly shift his eyes down to his walkie-talkie... Someone had tampered with the footage, because after that second he went back to mopping, his eyes instantly focusing on the floor. However, it may be best t keep the information unless Shuichi didn't want to get any information with Eddy by himself. 

Shuichi had noticed the soft jump in the footage, deciding to keep the information to himself. He really didn’t like hiding evidence, lying to his coworkers, but he knew that it needed to be done to find the truth he was looking for. And to do that, he needed to try and question Eddy again by himself. If the others had known that the tape was tampered with, there would be no reason for Shuichi or anyone else to personally go in and question him. The information would just be passed onto Haiji and Kiibo then they would continue questioning him. He just hoped that he was the only one who noticed, glancing over to Hajime and Makoto in their conversation and also glancing over to Chiaki to hope she hadn’t noticed either. Chiaki's eyes flickered for a second, sending Shuichi's pulse on edge... But her gaze went back to the other two and talked with them, giving a wink. " You okay there?" The shorter boy of the group asked. 

Chiaki yawned and rubbed her eyes, " Yeeeah, just something in the eye... Just a little patch of sleep is all. He weariness didn't last long as a door slammed open. Ishimaru quickly getting out of the way of the poor robot's path to tell Hajime and Shuichi to get in there. Shuichi was glad that Chiaki didn’t seem to spill any information about the video, either because she kept it hidden or she didn’t even notice it. But, his relief was cut short when Ishimaru had told him and Hajime that it was their turn for questioning. The navy haired detective nodded softly, starting to walk towards the room where they were needed and glancing over towards Hajime periodically. 

As the two made it to the door they could hear Eddy's voice while Haiji stood guard having the door open, listening, " Now, did'ja ever just ya' know... listen to his problems? Rather than always tryin' to solve 'em? Nah, nah, ya' had to be the big tough cop, don't cha'? You never let 'em inside." 

As Haijime approached the taller man gave a snarl and grabbed hold of him with his only working arm since the other was still in a sling. He spun Hajme around and held him against the wall glaring back at the two people at the table, " See this, Brainiac? This is what's waiting for you when you get caught! You're gonna put your stupid hat on, and get your mop, and then, bam! We're taking a trip down to the docks!" 

Eddy's tone in voice was still the same only with a chuckle sliding it, " Oh yeah, that doesn't look very intimidating with, uh, you know, the one arm." The chief's eye twitched with rage and let the detective go before marching out muttering. 

The security camera man, well... he looked more like a little boy to be honest, that was sitting next to Eddy had snickered softly with a grin on his face after Haiji had walked out of the room during a fit of rage. “ Wow, what a loser...” He commented softly to himself and Eddy, laughing under his breath. Shuichi watched as Haiji angrily left the room, knowing it was really easy to get Haiji worked up... but it goes to show that this wouldn’t be an easy walk in the park at all. Also, was there really a need to use Hajime as an example...? Anyway, the navy haired detective walked into the room with the superior detective and sat in the seats at the table across from the two that were brought in for questioning. 

Hajime huffed under his breath before sitting down across from the two along with Shuichi. He clasped his hands and set his arms down to give a glance to them both, " Hinata Hajime . Nice to see you again Eddy.... And uhm... you." 

The smaller and more child-like one sitting next to Eddy, gave the two detectives a shit-eating grin before replying “ Kamishiro Yuto here since you didn’t seem to bother learning my name"

The older detective cocked a brow before letting out a sigh. " Look... we believe that you may have something to do with a three year old murder. They only found the tongue. And you seemed to have some... Questionable backstory when moving here. Can we get a brief check on your history before you moved here?" 

The tall lanky man put a leg on his knee, letting the foot set on the table, " Don't have much in documents. Came here with a full erased backstory. And buddy, the only papers I got, are with someone else." 

Shuichi had looked over at Eddy, the last part of his statement catching his attention “ With someone else?” The detective asked, “ Who would your papers be with?” 

The surveillance watcher popped a question to fling to the other two, " Why do his papers and his background have to do with him murdering someone anyway? I mean, please, is his amateur hour?” 

Hajime gave a distinct glare with a furled frown at the child looking person, " ... He said some fairly sketchy stuff. Now hush. The grown-ups are talking... We're you a janitor before Eddy?" 

The mop headed male gave a nod, " Yeah, best damn janitor back at my place, what they said. Anyways if I done n' told ya' who had 'em... Well you'd be havin' issues tryin' to get it." 

Hajime gave a sigh, " It'll be harder if you don't tell us." 

Eddy rolled his eyes, " Ehh, fine, fine. Good luck gettin' 'em from Kuzuryuu." 

" See isn't it easier to work with-uhhhhhh..." Hajime's mouth dropped, stuck in that loop as his brain had just connected to the name. " F-Fuyuhiko?" 

Eddy gave a sly smirk, " Nah, nah... His daddy." Hajime's eyes widened, gulping down the rest of his sentence. 

Shuichi had seen Hajime’s reaction towards the statement, noting that talking to the boss of the Yakuza seemed to be even more intimidating and hard to be than talking to the boss’s son... which was already a little intimidating. But, since the name was brought up, “ So you’re saying you have strong ties to the Yakuza if the boss is carrying papers on your background...? You haven’t always been a ‘normal’ janitor then?” 

Yuta wasn’t too happy about his child-like appearance being pointed out, looking towards the two detectives and deciding to retaliate. He looked to Shuichi, snickering, “ Wow, way to go captain obvious.” 

Hajme shook his head to get the giggling boy out of his head, " Listen. I already deal with Ouma on a daily basis-no offense Shuichi-so zip it! We'll get to you in a moment." He cleared his throat and looked back to Eddy, " As my partner said, you're not a typical janitor are you?" 

The janitor yawned in boredom, " Oh gosh, looks like ya' done n' caught me. No I wasn't. Folks decided it'd be best to pay some debts by havin' their kiddo be borrowed by the people they owed their gambilin' debt to. But, times have changed. I don't be cleanin' shit like that anymore. Kuzuryuu had some connections with my trainer. He came by to visit the Don, paid off the debt as long as he took me in." 

" And you've been doing it here as well? Carrying out his orders?" Hajime asked. 

Another broad and bored glance, " Only followed a few orders. If ya' wanna' try n' pin those as well, be my guest to deal with the big ol' daddy of the Yakuza. Anyway, got a job, make an honest livin', and in return he cut me with those terrible ties... So WHY... Would I decide to suddenly gone up n' kill someone who was tresspassin'? Ya' think I like doin' that type of shit? Guess where I ain't. In cuffs or at the institution as a patient. I'm just a janitor. I clean, not make a mess." 

Shuichi had thought about his response, his testimony clearly opposing the evidence of the edited tapes. Eddy was clearly looking down at his walkie-talkie, so he was probably being told to go do something... maybe now was the time to try and question the child-like guy sitting next to the janitor. Because Shuichi didn’t think they could get more out of Eddy without the security guard’s perspective. “ So... let’s go to you then.” Shuichi spoke towards the other one. 

“ Finally!” Yuta had spoken out, “ I was dying of not being noticed here.” 

Shuichi had cleared his throat “ A-Anyway... what were you doing when the intruder had suddenly started taking down cameras?” 

The other suspect had grinned widely before replying, “ Um, my job? Isn’t that obvious?“ 

The brunette groaned, rubbing his face, " If your job is not calling in the guards when an intruder gets in or a patient gets out. What were you doing then NOT to notice that cameras were going off one by one?" He asked before seeing the child-like boy's hand rustling around a bag of some type of snack as comfort food, " Please tell me you didn't go into a food coma or something of the sort? Do you have blackouts often? Did you get a seizure?" 

The child-like boy had pulled out a sweet pastry from the bag he had held in front of him, taking a bite out of it while Hajime was asking him a question and not caring at all if either of the detectives thought it was rude. “ Hmm...” He thought while he was chewing, swallowing but pausing a few seconds after he did so. “ I guess I could have. I mean, I said I was doing my job but I never said I was doing it well.” 

Shuichi had raised a brow “ So... you’re honestly saying you didn’t notice any of the cameras going out at all?” 

The one in question grinned, taking a bite out of his sweet treat and replying with food in his mouth, “ Ah, yep.” 

Hajime's mouth gaped a bit, " ... Y-You... But how-How do you keep your job...?" 

Eddy leaned in with his hand, " Hey now, hey now. Calm down. He was probably thinkin' on what that big ol' bunny toy was fer when it was sent to one of the more secluded rooms n' called up on what the hell that was about." 

The older detective gave a baffled look, recalling that up in one of the corner's camera's were a set of screens beside each other going down and slightly marked off as a red line divided them with the normal cameras. " ... What were those rooms? I thought it was just someone giving a patient a large toy." 

Eddy gave a snort, " Nah, that's where the isolated ones that need major help stay. One of 'em received a big ol' bunny, bout the size of shy boy over there." 

Shuichi had raised a brow at the mention of a big bunny that seemed to be about the size of a person, completely brushing the shy boy commented aside. That seems strange... like someone could be hiding inside of the bunny. “ Is everything inspected before it’s given to the patients?” He asked them. 

The bratty boy had spoken up again after swallowing another bite of his pastry, “ Um, yeah, duh. That’s why I called up to see what the delivery was all about because I hadn’t heard about it before.” 

Shuichi had heard the response, asking another question, “ What patient was the bunny being sent to, exactly? And why?” 

Eddy gave a sigh out and scratched his chin to recall, " That'd a been... Daisachi. It was a present from the supervisor of the place. Ya' know the big ol' boss of us. That's as much as I got." He gave a glazed look of not really giving a shit about the conversation. 

" Enough of the bunny, Shuichi. You could have edited the tape." Again just another hardened gaze from the taller man, not budging. 

Shuichi was surprised to hear that the bunny was for Daisachi and it was from the supervisor, or boss, of the institution... that spelled trouble. But, he was disappointed he was cut off from asking anything related to the bunny. It could be really important to the case if it was big enough to hide a person inside... The smaller boy and scoffed, “ Editing the tape? Seriously? I control all the tapes and such that go in and out of the cameras and surveillance, so I doubt that Mister Janitor here could get his hands on anything. And why would I mess with the tape? If I had messed with the tape, I would have made it so the intruder never appeared in the first place! But, I don’t even know how to, so...” He took another bite of his treat, a bored expression on his face. 

Hajime groaned from not being able to get any types of new information and suddenly shot out from his seat as a loud banging noise emitted from one of the walls. It was Haiji screaming out in sheer anger. They then heard the muffled roar of Hajime's name. Hajime winced and closed his eye tightly before getting up from his seat and walking out, " Be right back Shuichi..." With that he was gone. More yelling permeated the air, something about, 'we're checking the tapes again'. 

“ Wow-“ the child-like boy spoke “ Someone didn’t get a nap.” 

Eddy's line of sight shifted to the lone detective, " ..... What?" 

Shuichi had looked at Hajime leave the room, feeling sorry that he had to be the one to deal with Haiji’s frustration and anger at the moment... but he was happy he had gotten a moment alone with two in the room. He suddenly got more serious, leaning into the table more and speaking in a quieter tone, “ I saw the tapes and where it was edited. Eddy was looking down at the walkie-talkie that he had then the screen suddenly cut back to him cleaning. Hajime doesn’t know that part exists, at least not yet. Now... tell me what that was all about.” 

Eddy's seemingly ever permanent unimpressed line of a mouth twitch at the corner. " N' here I thought ya' were the nice cop..." He gave a slight sigh and leaned forward to whisper, " Don't think anyone's watchin' at the moment... And we know Haiji forgot to bring in any recordin' device cuz' that ol' boy is always in a rush. But... Look. Yeah. I killed 'em... Go on, throw the shackles on. Not the first time... Just hopein' ya' know your doing the wrong thing... But hey, I dun' blame ya'. I had a good run..." 

Shuichi had shaken his head softly, looking at the both of them in front of him. “ I... I’m not going to arrest you. At least, not for this and not today. I just want some more information regarding why you had killed the intruder, the Madarai brother. And more information about that bunny sent to Daisachi...” 

The small boy scoffed at Shuichi, taking another bite at his pastry, “ And why should we help you? You’re a detective, you may just be lying to us.” 

Shuichi had paused for a moment and shook his head “No, everything I’m saying his true.” He spoke with an earnest and determined look on his face, “ I need whatever you’re not telling me... for the sake of the history in this town.” 

Eddy cracked his neck along with a few other bones to pop, giving him a long hard stare. Tired eyes blinked, " That all sounds like threats, but ya' know... Heh, I like your spunk. You're not as pushy as the others. I could see ya' were interested in Daisachi. So, I'll give ya' this one kiddo." He pulled his hat down a bit to compose himself, putting his elbows on the table to make simple hand gestures. " Reason was, we knew about the brothers. News, local documentaries, local tales, word gets around... And to have one of 'em sneak in, means they'd be likely to kill someone. Now I may be out of the game, but a dog can neva' forget what he's taught. I might be a janitor, but like hell am I gonna' let a patient or fellow co-worker die on my watch. Sure the boss is a dick n' don't deserve me, but everyone else... They just victims or doin' their jobs. They helped me at my lowest, how can I return the favor right?" 

Yoto looked over at Eddy, not really thinking he would be one to actually spill something to a detective. But, if he really trusted this guy, it means that he would probably be trustworthy. “ When I saw the guy on the security camera, I knew I couldn’t just trust the regular security with it. So, like you saw on the edited clip-which I swore I edited perfectly-I told Eddy over walkie-talkie to go take care of it.” 

Shuichi nodded softly, really happy that the two were giving him some more information, “ Is there any clue as to who their target was?” Shuichi asked. 

Eddy shook his head, " Nah... Even did some... Questionable things to get him to spill it. All I managed to get was a patient, no name though. Yeah, we could'a turned him into the police, but let's be honest." He closed his eyes and gave a small growl from the back of his throat, " That's a special kinda' monster. There's no savin' that or holdin' that in a cage. I know that kind. They don't give into torture. Justice system can't do anything for that type of man." He reopened his eyes, sliding his sight back to the detective, hoping he'd understand that some people just had to go. " S'all I got. Anything else?" 

Shuichi had thought for a moment, trying to come up with a good question to ask Eddy. “ Well...” the navy haired detective mumbled softly, gripping his chin with the sides of his thumb and his pointer finger. He then looked up towards Eddy and spoke, “ That description you gave me of Daisachi when we had first met. That was a lie, wasn’t it? You just don’t want detectives like me to realize who it is? Because...” He paused again, “ Because I can assure you I won’t send him back there.” 

Eddy's gaze turned cold, scrunching his nose up, " Look kiddo. Ya' wanna' help. I get that much. Yeah, I may have told ya' some things, but doesn't mean I'll tell ya' everything." He smirked, " Ya only asked about two things... The hit-man and the bunny. Now I thought you were gonna' press on the rabbit honestly, which I will tell ya'. But I'm just gettin' a feel of where ya' head is. So how's about I just tell ya about the toy instead?" He cocked his head to the side, showing he wasn't going to budge for more questions. 

Shuichi had looked up at Eddy, certainly getting the message that he wasn’t going to get anymore information than he had came into the conversation asking for. He was a little disappointed, but it was to be expected. “ Okay...” he spoke softly before asking again, “ You said the present was from the supervisor, right? Was there anything else hidden inside the bunny? Why was the bunny sent?” 

Eddy indeed nodded. Maybe it was body... " Yup. My history of psychology isn't that great. But there was this one guy from America that tested monkeys. He was seein' if love was like a part of science or not, somethin' I don't recall. But basically, baby monkey has two fake mama's. One with wire and food and one with just a cloth. Baby monkey only ate when needed and kept clingin' to the cloth one as comfort or affection. Further down the line were a series of clothed moms gone... What's a nice word for psycho? ... Ehh nothin' really. But basically, to see the view of dependency on abusive mothers. These clothed ones would either have spikes that clamped from the sides or hot air being blown at their face. No matter what, the baby monkey would always go back to seek affection or somethin' of that nature... Now the explanation from the boss was some B.S. of, he's violent but needs interaction with something, so let's throw somethin' in there that can fight back. Basically big ol' bunny has metal spikes that were hidden in and on the sides... But me n' some of the others are pretty damn sure he was trying that experiment... Sneaky lil' bastard managed to get it to rip it's own arm and unraveled it's back. Hehe, he hid in it and scared the shit outta' some doctors. Got the boss's wrist with those blades hehehe" 

Shuichi had listened to the explanation behind why the stuffed rabbit was sent, thinking that it fit just too well... but the last part about going into the bunny and scaring doctors seemed like someone that he knew. So, it was safe to assume he wasn’t being lied to on that front. Still, he hated to hear about whatever experimentation was going on inside of there... but, he pushed his emotions off to the side and nodded towards Eddy. “ Okay... thanks for the information.” He gave the other a soft smile 

" Yeah, yeah. Look, you gonna' go narc on us or not? Because ya' know. There's still one brother out there who ain't the nice one. Again, don't know who they were after, but ya' neva' know. I mean, we're tryin' our best-Hell if Yuto here hadn't a called me n' instead on callin' the guards. There'd be a lot more bodies..." The hinted spark of a glare returned onto Eddy's face. He didn't seem like he wanted to be harsh, but that's just how he grew up, and wasn't the best at expressing at any tenderness. 

Yuto had grinned when he was being praised by Eddy “ Yup, I’m just that amazing at my job~ I practically saved a bunch of people at that institution!” 

Shuichi had looked at Eddy after the other was done talking, shaking his head softly, “ I’m not going to discuss this with the other detectives. I don’t think they can know this and react in a way that favors the truth, so...” 

Eddy let out a sigh of relief, " Thank ya' kindly... I'd much rather see to that the patients are in good hands and not just left with the boss." Before Hajime came back in, he gave a smirk, " Good luck on ya' truth seekin' kiddo." 

Hajime and Haiji both came afterwards, directing Shuichi out so Haiji could try and deal with the two a bit more before releasing them on evidence they all couldn't find. Ishmaru greeted the shy detective once he was out with an apologetic look, " Uhm... It might be best to go home unless you want to deal with Haiji's temper... Mondo is coming to pick me up, so we could drop you off if you'd like." A small smile slid onto his face, still with a worried expression. 

Shuichi looked over at Ishimaru, giving the other a reassuring smile at the offer to try and ease the worry the other seemed to have. “ I-I think I’d like that. Thank you for offering.” He spoke sincerely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes the jello thing is from the office.  
> And the whole scene with Haiji slamming Hajime to the wall, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A9V-P49C6Q near the end. Loved that show...


	33. The Cards, Just Pick Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clues, clues, and more clues.  
> But also a guy from the anime (Which I don't really want to watch, but I read up on) pops up, because he deserved better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mondo's advice on how to rile your boyfriend up... drive really fast  
> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BrjxP2WIgAAsbPU.jpg pth   
> Also again, Chiaki gives no fucks.

Honestly... In hindsight, this may have been a bad idea... Down the snowy roads went two raging motorcycles, One with Daiya, revving for sound effect with Chiaki sitting in a side-car that was attached to the bike where as Fujisaki clung to the back of the motorist for dear life. For Shuichi... He was in the side-car's seat of Mondo's bike who went much faster than the older brother's. Ishimaru holding onto Mondo yelling angrily at how unsafe this was while Mondo was cracking up like a hyena. Shuichi had a lot of regrets as he shivered in the passengers seat, one hand holding his coat closed while the other was gripping onto the passengers seat he was sitting. The frigid wind blew through his hair and into his eyes, so Shuichi had to squint to barely be able to see the road in front of him. Everything around him was also constantly loud, from the revving of the bikes to the yelling that was coming from Ishimaru. Shuichi wouldn’t be surprised if he had a headache by the time he had gotten home. But, this vertically beat walking all the way back to his place... right? 

The older brother behind him seemed happy, chuckling a few times, making sure to go steadier then the reckless brother. At least he knew Mondo wouldn't be too reckless with people with him. Chiaki all the while just sat there only having wind effect her hair that stuck out of her pink kitty helmet as she played a hand held game-... HOW DID SHE STAY PERFECTLY STILL LIKE THAT?! Ishimaru made constant threats on revoking his license or giving him a ticket, and so on until the speeding bike's speed plummeted down and finally stopped at the home. Daiya pulled over as well for a brief break while Fujisaki still clung onto him, shaking like a rabbit. He gave a smile under his helmet, " See ya' detective man!" 

Shuichi had shakily gotten out of the passenger seat, readjusting his hair- which he was sure was pretty crazy from all of the wind. He made sure he had everything on his person before turning to Daiya and giving him a soft smile “ S-See you.” He then turned to Mondo and Ishimaru and gave them a smile as well, “ Thanks for offering a ride home and giving me a ride home.” Even if it was a little hectic and crazy... 

Right as he opened the door he could distinctly hear the fellow officer shout, " Mondo... Mondo no! MONDO NO! DON'T GIVE ME THAT FACE! MONDO NO!" 

" MONDO YES!" That poor man... 

There was nothing Shuichi could do except just pray he'd be okay mentally. Inside it was safe to say no one was home, Kaito might have gone out to go eat with Maki as there was a note on the counter table, telling him that there was spaghetti in the fridge and to make sure he ate it-... Wait.. That wasn't Kaito's messy handwriting... It was scribbled out in crayon, misspelling on purpose to imitate a child's writing... Shuichi had blinked softly at the note that had left on the table, noting that it had been scribbled out in crayon and the nature of the spelling errors...there was really only one person that came to mind when he had saw what the note was written with and the overall nature of it. Shuichi held onto the note in his hand, glancing around the kitchen to see if anyone else was there. There might be a chance the other was still here... No one was there, but sure enough there was some spaghetti in the fridge left for him to consume. Whether or not Shuichi did eat it or something else, he noticed that his door was somehow locked. Another note on it reading out, ' Won't open until you eat something Detective.' 

Shuichi deadpanned when he had seen the note on his door, sighing softly. He guessed he would eat the spaghetti that was left for him then... he went into the fridge and reheated the spaghetti in the microwave. He then sat down at the kitchen table and quickly ate about half of it. He really wanted to see how the door would somehow unlock after he had eaten something. So, he left the other half of the portion on the table and went back to his door just to see if it had unlocked yet. The door was indeed unlocked, but upon opening it Shuichi could see that his chair was next to it. It didn't take a detective to figure out that's how it was locked, having the chair wedged under the handle at an angle. In fact the window was still open slightly-so that's how they got in. Shuichi could have sworn he locked that as well. Then again he was dealing with a thief... Nothing was outside or on the tree near his window-Oh. That's when he saw the reflection in the window's glass. Behind him the door moved, the sly fox pushing it so quietly that he didn't even hear it. The stranger noticed him staring at the reflection and waved happily. 

Shuichi had looked at the stranger behind him through the reflection for a couple of more seconds before turning around and looking at the fox maxed intruder. The navy haired detective wasn’t even surprised at this point at all...it was easy for the thief to break into his home after all and had taken a liking to him as well. So instead of asking the usual ‘why are you here?’ Or ‘how did you get in’, Shuichi just struck up a casual conversation, “ The spaghetti was a nice touch this time...” 

The detective could just sense the other smiling wide under the mask's fixed smile, " Upupupu~. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And willing to eat it instead of something else, my, my. Aren't you growing brave? But hehe, you'd know a great thief like me wouldn't stoop to the level of drugging or poisoning. I'm glad you liked it." The fox walked over full of joy, " I've got to keep my dear Detective well now don't I? What kind of rival intellect would I be if I didn't?" The chuckled, sitting on the chair and raising their leg to set on their other knee, making themselves at home. They gave a sigh, " Oh Detective... How I wish to show you my face sometimes... But, that would ruin everything. My minions would be sent away, I'd be locked up. No friends, no family, just despair... Then other clans would fight for this nice town to be theirs. The bad people would return. Increased numbers of killers, rapists, pedophiles, drug dealers, and thieves who don't go by a true code, would pop right back up." They waved their hand around as they gave off a list of examples, " Even cultists... But you know what'd be the most shameful?" He answered the rhetorical question thrown at Shuichi, " I wouldn't get to play with you anymore..." 

Shuichi looked at the leader of D.I.C.E who was now sitting down on the chair in his room, making themselves comfortable. The navy haired detective just looked at the other with a normal expression on his face, “ You know...” He spoke, “ I think I’m okay with you not showing your face to me either.” Shuichi could speak this with confidence, knowing that he was confident with who was under the mask already. And if they revealed themselves to him, it would mean they would probably drop by less... and it this point Shuichi had gotten used to the whole coming in uninvited trope. “ I may be a detective, but you’re doing more good than harm, so... I can’t, with a right mind, just lock you up.” 

The gave out a cracked chuckle, " Hehehe... Heh... I guess we think alike more than I thought. I prefer seeing your face as it is. Not the one that's hidden up, but defiantly now the type of face I'm use to by other detectives. But h-hehe... You really are an idiot huh? It's your job to catch the bad guy... You know... In order to do some good, you've got to be the bad guy. How do you view us? Are we doing right or wrong? Do we symbolize hope or despair? Are we made up of truth or lies? Have I persuaded you into thinking wrongly? Have I only merely manipulated you? Or is it something else?" Why did they constantly go out of their way to be a villain if in fact they really weren't? 

Shuichi looked up at the other, crafting a response in his head before stating it out loud, “ Well... how could I be manipulated by you to think this way when you’ve only presented yourself as a villain towards me? I formed my opinion on you and your groups through stories and interactions I’ve had with people throughout this whole town...” He paused for a moment, “ Y-You come across as in the wrong but your actions are in the right. You symbolize despair for those who hunt for despair and symbolize hope for those who yearn for it. You’re made up of lies, but I’m so close to unraveling them to find the truth...” 

The leader went quiet taking in the answer, but also relishing it. To actually hear it come out from someone who wasn't an underling or some kid, but from someone's who profession was all about finding out truth and facts, felt so nice. It had been so long since he was praised like this. " .... I'm so happy you understand. That means a lot to me. To my group. To my town." He lilted the mask ever so slightly to slip a finger to wipe a tear away before clapping his hands and having the mask grin, " Okay, how about a game~?! If you pick correctly, I'll hand over the mask! You choose wrong and well... Upupupu~!" He grabbed a deck of cards from his back pocket and stood up to methodically toss each card onto the table. Every card had a name on it, some Shuichi never heard of, some people he knew, and some people who were even dead, forty two in total, just like an actual deck. Though there were some questionable ones... Mainly, Ouma Kokichi , Kimishun Daisachi, Akihito Tajako. Kokichi and one of the others were also written on one card and vice versa, but one had all three... 

Shuichi had watched as all the cards were tossed onto the table, but the one that had caught his eye the most was the card that had all three key names on it. But, Shuichi knew better than to just pick up a card and claim that it was that person under the mask. The leader’s instructions were so vague that Shuichi didn’t want to take his chances. “ So... if I pick the card that has your correct identity on it, you’ll show me your face?” 

The masked thief nodded happily, " Yup. Just pick a card. Who do you think I am detective? I know, I know, too easy right? Well some games are just made that way. If you rather chicken out..." He trailed off, waiting in anticipation. 

Shuichi had shaken his head quickly from side to side, knowing he definitely didn’t want to back out of this game. Even though the results of the game could be skewed in the other’s favor easily if they just lied... but it was definitely worth a shot. Shuichi had eyed the card with all three of the names on it, debating on picking that one. But, would it really be correct in the other’s eyes? For all Shuichi knew, it could be a scenario where a past self was left behind into the person they are today kind of deal. But... it was worth a shot he guessed. He picked up the card with all three names and showed it to the masked thief, “ This is my answer.” 

The stranger paused and started a small clap before lifting their hands to the mask. Shuichi... He had done it! HE HAD PICKED CORRECT! HE FOUND THE IDENTITY-" WRONGO~!" Fuck... The masked stranger cackled out, " Ahahaha! Silly detective, how can I be three people at the same time? I don't even think someone with a split-personality disorder can be two at once right~?" They giggled a bit before reaching for Shuichi's drawer from his dresser, " But you look so sad and disappointed, makes me want to cry really. I guess I'll give you a complimentary reward for trying your best." They said, pulling out... Was that a plate of jello? They just pulled out... A plate of jello with a picture frame inside... " Give this to your boss, it might perk him up~." Shuichi’s disappointment in choosing the wrong identity was only slightly replaced with the confusion of what they had just pulled out from his dresser. Why did they have a plate of Jello that encased a picture frame? Shuichi had taken the plate away from the other, looking to see if there was anything even inside of the picture frame he needed to be concerned about. Inside was a relatively small picture of Haiji and Monaca for some reason... " Upupupu~! Didn't I ask you if you asked Monaca her last name~? Or did you actually think she was raised there as a baby, having no last name and... Just Monaca~." The disappointment and sudden confusion slid into the depths of concern at a harsh slope, suddenly hitting hard. So many questions began to bubble of from the trench of concern... 

Shuichi looked closely at the picture that was concealed by the gelatinous mass, wondering why this had suddenly come out of nowhere. His mind was racing at a mile a minute, the leader of D.I.C.E seeming to know just exactly how to get the gears in Shuichi’s head to run into overtime. This would imply that Haiji and Monaca were related somehow... but if they were related, then why was Monaca at an orphanage? Shouldn’t have Haiji taken her in? He looked up to the masked thief in an attempt to get answers, “ So... they’re related then?” 

They glanced at their nails-even if they were gloved-in a smug fashion, their grin under the mask nearly radiating if Shuichi to see, " Ohohoho yes~! Little Miss Towa herself! Born an unwanted child by both her father, the president of Towa Group and her mother, his lover out of wedlock, a mistress. Monaca's mother was supposed to take care of her but instead abandoned her soon after her birth. Dear old daddy's advisor recommended for his boss to take the poor girl in. She was unwanted by her dear old daddy and his colleagues though. Even making them feel uncomfortable around her. Every time Monaca smiled or joked, others looked at her coldly, as if she didn't deserve to laugh. Every time she spoke, others turned silent. Good ol' dad thought of her as a parasite, not part of the family. Everything Monaca did made him feel sick. He had a bad feeling about her and he was quite sure that Monaca would end up destroying his family. Out of desperation, Haiji took her to the orphanage. Idiot couldn't take her in himself, too much on the line along with being banished from the family if he did so. Sides he was way too busy." Shuichi had widened his eyes at the masked stranger’s explanation, feeling really bad for Monaca. He also was angry at the other members of the Towa family, but had mixed feelings about Haiji. Sure, he didn’t really like the guy to begin with, but this? He should have just taken her in despite what his family may think, this was his own little sister. And he wouldn’t take her in? But he shouldn’t have been forced in that position anyway... Overall, Shuichi was upset at the Towa family. Besides Monaca of course. He didn’t even think of replying to the other besides him, too taken over by his emotions and his thoughts. 

The fox tilted their head seeing his expression and a bit of The Leader's side Shuichi had seen glimpses of was fully out. Though the stranger normally only pulled this out in defense or threats, but something must have seeped into this darker side because he was chuckling and laughing. And not having an episode... The leader walked over and behind Shuichi before putting a gloved hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper in his ear, " I hate to see you in such a state of jumbled emotions, but I can't find it rather entertaining to say the least. I did warn you long ago when I was talking about those kids, upupup~." 

Shuichi didn’t react when the gloved hand was put on his shoulder, but did look towards the masked thief after he had spoken. Shuichi could plainly see that the leader’s more darker side was out in conversation, but that didn’t change the way the detective would reply even if the person speaking to him had changed. “ I know you did... but I just didn’t think it would be like this, you know?” He spoke, “ Whenever I learn about something like this happening I just wish... that I could have done something about it.” 

The fox walked away, resting the back of their skull against their arms as if this was all casual, " Upupupu, it happen a bit ago, don't fret, she's in much better hands now~. Ahh, it kind of makes me want to tell you about the others. Seeing your reaction on those would be deliiiightful~. But I think I've spoken to much as enough as it is..." He chuckled under the mask, turning his head to the side, red eye glowing over Shuichi with the captivating and twisted grin resting just below. 

Shuichi had looked over towards the fox masked intruder, watching the red eye glowing and seeming to taunt him with information the other wasn’t too keen on spilling at the moment. He really wanted to know about the other children as well, but didn’t think anything he could do would get information out of the other. Instead, he replied with, “ That’s... Okay. I don’t think I would want to hear about all of them all at once anyway.” 

The thief had already put up the cards with the names and gave another quick snicker, making his way to the detective, " My thoughts exactly Detective." The glow began to fade away, along with the darkness of toying with Shuichi, going back to their usual demeanor, poking Shuichi on the chest harshly to make him fall back and sit on the bed. " Anyways, you still lost, so that means I get to do what I wanted." It certainly wasn't something in a mood of what his dream was like that one time. The tone wasn't mischievous or malicious... " Hmmm, can I trust you though?" Why wouldn't they just tell him what they were planning? 

Shuichi had stumbled back into the bed, his arms behind him to help stabilize himself after he had been pushed down onto his bed. He looked up at the leader from his spot on he bed, his mind racing with possibilities on what they could potentially want to do with him. Shuichi gulped slightly, opening his mouth and speaking hesitantly, “ Um... I’m pretty sure you can trust me.” The masked person simply sat on his lap again and wrapped their arms around his shoulders to go back to the position they had done previously. No kissing, and nothing dirty, just hugging, slightly clinging. Something did click with Shuichi on why the odd behavior. From Eddy's testimony and explanation earlier, affection was something an individual in their condition would seek. The fox's mood shifted so quickly, almost like they were bipolar, but it could just be easy slipping on and off masks instead. The Leader made themselves comfortable to nuzzle up and listen to Shuichi's erratic heartbeat, as if they thought they didn't have one and just wanted the feeling and hear it work unlike theirs. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when the other had simply sat on his lap and started to hug him and cling to him, not expecting this to be what the other was going to do. But... Shuichi didn’t exactly dislike it at all. With Eddy’s testimony in mind, he let the other do as they pleased. Hesitantly, Shuichi had wrapped his arms around the other in a gentle manner just to return the affection. His heartbeat had started to calm down, slowly going back to an even pace. However as the thief felt the arms of the detective gently wrap around them, Shuichi could feel a sharp startled quivering flinch by the thief. They obviously weren't expecting it, and something about it startled them. If this was indeed Kokichi like he had pinpointed, he could remember never actually hugging him in a state that was of his own mind. It was always when he was highly upset or asleep, never when he was aware of his surroundings. They clung tighter, preparing for something, but soon calmed themselves down once nothing happened. Shuichi was glad that the only reaction the other seemed to have was to sharply tense up and flinch for a few moments, not something over the top like reacting in a violent way. But, the reaction that they had displayed was still concerning as well. The other shouldn’t have to feel scared whenever they received a hug... Shuichi had kept his hands gently on the other, letting them relax into his arms for as long as they needed to. They let out a soft sigh and loosened the grip on the navy haired boy, " I wish I could stay like this forever sometimes... It feels... Nice." The small leader almost seemed to drift away to sleep, all of their senses being soother under Shuichi touch. 

That was until a voice came from downstairs, " Shuichi?! You home?!" If it was Kaito, it wouldn't have been that bad, if Kaede, it'd been difficult... But no, it just had to be Maki. the girl with a stone cold glare. The thief quickly shoved themselves off from their soft feeling and quickly scrambled out of the window, closing it quietly and scurrying up the tree right outside the window. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when the thief had scrambled from their position so quickly, watching them race to the window. Shuichi had stood up and watched them scurry up the tree that was outside of his window like a frightened cat. And the moment was so peaceful as well...Shuichi had sighed and opened the door to his room, shouting back towards Maki, “ U-Um, Yes! I am!” 

Maki wasn't actually at the door but just down the stairs calling up to him, though upon seeing him went to her normal reserved voice, " Oh there you are. I see you made yourself something to eat... Interesting, thought you didn't know how to cook. Though it's better than Kaito who makes poptarts and eats lunchables..." The thin brow raised, " You... Okay up there? You seem kind of flustered a bit." Or rather frustrated... 

Shuichi didn’t even fully realize he may look a little flustered or frustrated, but he kind of was feeling it at the moment. The navy haired detective gave the other an embarrassed and nervous smile before scratching his cheek softly with his pointer finger “ U-Um, Yeah! Just pieces of evidence not fitting together... I’m just trying to sort things out in my head.” 

The girl in crimson that had matched her eyes were rolled. She gave a soft sigh and smile, " Alright, just checking on you is all. Least I could do for the others." She then left, going to either clean the meal Shuichi had left out and fixing something for herself. Unfortunately once that was done, the thief had vanished and were more than likely not coming back later this night. But at the very least, Shuichi had gotten more information at the end. Shuichi flopped down onto the chair that was near his desk, leaning back in it and sighing while putting the inside of his elbow against his eyes. He would have liked the have spent more time with the masked leader, getting more information or not.... even just sitting there and hugging for a while longer would have been fine. Ironically, he wished the leader would break into his home again sometime soon. 

When morning arose Shuichi felt sore a bit, why did he feel-oh... He fell asleep at his desk, but at least one of his roomies managed to sneak in and drop a blanket on him to keep him nice and warm. As he made his way downstairs after getting himself ready he could see Kaito was certainly hyped up, talking about the meteor shower that would soon be there. " It's gonna' be amazin'! And possibly romantic~" He grinned, raising his brows to Maki, making her puff her cheek up a bit and fuss with her hair. 

" Do you want to die?" 

" If it's by you." The normally composed girl turned around, hunching her back to him, the most flustered Shuichi had ever seen. 

Kaito laughed out, " Ahaha! Yo Kaede, ya goin' with us? Or you gonna' ask mister avocado man?" 

Kaede had blinked slightly when Kaito had brought up Rantaro, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as she glanced off to the side, ” Well, yeah actually... I was planning on asking him if he wasn’t already going with someone else.” As Kaede glanced over to the side, she had seen Shuichi enter the kitchen and listening to their conversation. “ Oh! Shuichi!” She exclaimed with a smile on her face, “ Are you going to go to the meteor shower?” 

Shuichi have the group a nervous smile, scratching his cheek softly, “ U-Um, I think I’m going to stay here or something like that.” The meteor shower seemed to be a really hot topic amount everyone in the town, already having heard about it already from Hajime. 

" Ya' sure? I mean if it's a tad scary, but fear not! I'll keep my sidekick protected well or if I ain't Momota Kaito, Luminary of the stars!" He gave a wide inspiring smile, standing on his chair, putting his other foot onto the table and pointing forward like some sailor. 

Maki's blush ceased as she looked back and gave a cold glare, " Get off the table." 

The dark purple haired male scrambled to get off, sitting back down and raising his shoulders, ashamed with himself, " Yes ma'am..." 

The crimson girl sighed, " Anyways, it's fine Shuichi. From what I can guess is that you're going to stay with Kokichi. Miss Hasegawa did tell me he has a fear of things falling. It's kind of like a branch of Anablephobia." She casually said, sipping her morning tea. 

Shuichi looked over towards Maki, a tad bit surprised that she had figured out what he was up to so quickly. The detective gave the other a soft nod, “ Yeah... thanks Maki.” 

He gave her a soft smile before Kaede had looked at Shuichi with a grin on her face. “ Soooo~” She spoke, a friendly yet teasing smile on her face “ What are you two going to do together instead then? You’ll probably be alone together.“ 

Shuichi had instinctively blushed and glanced off to the side, “ I-I, um, I-I don’t kno-“ 

Kaede giggles softly, cutting Shuichi off before he could worry too much, “Relax, I’m just teasing you a little.” 

Maki nodded while Kaito simply raised a brow, " Wait ana-whatia?" 

The girl shook her head, dangling black hair waving with her, " Anablephobia Kaito... It's a fear of looking up, except his is different. Something about things falling from the sky. It's something called The Chicken Little Syndrome. But anyways, here's breakfast everyone." She said, passing out plates to everyone. Once she got her seat, she whispered to Kaede on how Shuichi had made diner yesterday and how he had actually eaten it. 

Kaede had widened her eyes softly when Maki had told her about Shuichi prepping and eating dinner yesterday for himself. She looked towards Shuichi for a split second then back towards Maki with an expression on her face that meant ‘Really?’, but with happy undertones. Shuichi was eating his breakfast and had noticed Kaede looking over at him, so he looked up at the two girls. He then looked confused when he too had seen Kaede’s facial expression. She wasn’t really good at keeping her emotions a secret apparently...” U-Um...” Shuichi began to question softly, “ Is everything okay...?” 

Kaito's brow that had went down soon rose back up, " What are you two girl gosspin' about ova' there?" 

Maki gave off another glare, making him flinch back with how sharp she looked at him, " I was just telling Kaede that Shuichi has actually started cooking and eating at least half of it. Which is great news. Good work Shuichi." 

" Whoa! I didn't know ya' could even cook! That's my sidekick!" The spiky haired male gave a smirk, patting Shuichi's back a bit in confidence, purely proud of his childhood friend. 

Shuichi was stunned slightly after Kaito had patted his back. Sure, the praise felt nice but... he didn’t actually make that food... and, he was pretty much forced to eat if he wanted to go inside of his room... However, Shuichi couldn’t just tell the three of them that the leader had D.I.C.E had forced him to eat spaghetti in return for entry to his room. That would be too... weird. And possibly unbelievable. So, instead of combating the compliments he simply just accepted them with a soft, “ Th-Thanks...” and a small smile on his face. It technically wasn’t lying... right? Just not telling the whole truth? Who was he kidding, this was almost definitely lying. 

Thankfully Hajime came by to pick him up not long after he was done with his morning meal, driving him to the small family diner, " So where to today? I'd just like to ask before hand. Because tomorrow is the shower, and I'd rather like to be there to see it, so I suggest saving the zoo for tomorrow." He asked, paying attention to the road to avoid any sliding on the icy road until they got to the parking lot. Getting out the brunette blew some warm air into his hands, making himself warmed up before getting the door for them both. 

Shuichi had walked into the diner with Hajime, looking over towards him before speaking the decision that took him the whole car ride to make. “ I think I’d like to go to the factory today.” He spoke softly to Hajime, making sure that Kokichi was out of range so he couldn’t hear their conversation. He then continued to walk inside to the diner and sat down in the usual spot that he sat at with Hajime. 

As usual, Teruteru greeted them both and said that he would get their usual's started right away. Once Teruteru shrank back into the kitchen, Shuichi glanced around to try and see if he could spot the purple haired boy skating around the diner. Said boy skated by, not really looking wonderful and peppy as he usually was. In fact he looked rather tired, taking their orders and leaving to the kitchen, not saying a single word. If Shuichi thought about it enough, he could easily point out that the thief did need to leave instead of enjoying their time. Maybe Kokichi had gotten a rough nightmare. Maybe he had pre-day anxieties and needed to hold onto someone, but was interrupted. Shuichi wanted nothing but to just give the purple haired boy a long and gentle hug to try and relive some of the stress and anxiety that the other was feeling at the moment. But, Shuichi knew that in public Kokichi would probably don some other masks and refuse the comfort that he so clearly needed. The detective watched as he skated into the kitchen, feeling bad for him and the worry clearly showing on his face. Hajime watched the younger boy skate off and soon had a concerned look on his face as well to match Shuichi's, " Yeesh what's gotten him in a sour bunch?" He spoke softly, almost rhetorically but he'd rather not pester Shuichi about it in case he had something to do with it, or seeming like Shuichi would for some reason know. Kokichi skated back to them both, still in a slump as he passed out their drinks before shifting off to a stool away from them both to rest. he put his arms on the counter, followed by his head to lay down on them, weary eyes closing to take a nap of sort. 

Shuichi looked over to Kokichi as he laid his head down to try and rest. For a moment the detective debated in his mind about what he should do. Leave Kokichi alone and let him rest or try to offer comfort to him? After a few seconds, Shuichi had decided on a happy medium. It was definitely worth a shot. Getting up from his spot, Shuichi spoke, “ I’ll be right back.” His partner nodded, letting the shyer detective approach the slightly exhausted waiter. He then headed over towards Kokichi, sitting in the stool besides him. He didn’t try and touch Kokichi for the moment, in fear of a negative reaction. But, he did try to speak to him. Leaning in towards him, Shuichi spoke in a gentle tone, “ Kokichi... I know it’s a day early, but if you want to come over tonight to try and get some rest you’re more than welcome to. O-Or if you just need a hug I’d be happy to give you one before I leave...” He spoke, half expecting a reaction from the purple haired boy but at the same time not knowing if he would even reply. 

The good thing was that Kokichi wasn't lashing out from being startled, but the boy really had fell to a quiet sleep, being tuckered out from the previous day. It'd been nice for Shuichi to get a response but the good news was that he was resting now and not many people were out and about to come and eat. Instead most people were either doing their own thing for the upcoming event or buying things for said event. Though... The detective could make out small subtle sounds leaving Kokichi in his sleep, " 10-7... 10-9...10-7...10-9...10-8... 10-18. 10-33.10-33... 10-72... 10-78, 10-78-" His breath hitched for a moment, " 10-78...." Shuichi had heard the soft mumbling that Kokichi was doing in his sleep, wondering exactly what those numbers could mean. There was a bunch of different possibilities, really. Instead of returning to his original spot in the diner after having learned that Kokichi was resting, Shuichi stayed sitting next to the purple haired waiter and listened to the sounds he was making in his sleep and waiting to see if anything else would be said from him. 

The tired imp only repeated the numbers under his breath, like somewhere in his brain had secretly remembered them, know it in the exact order of which to say, somewhat like a tick the brain would response. Hajime got up as quietly as he could, hearing the soft muttering of Kokichi and stood behind his partner. He cleared his throat a bit to let his partner gave a heads up as he made his way and carefully put a hand onto Shuichi's shoulder. He leaned in slightly listening in. After which, he took out a notebook from his front pocket and scribbled the numerical codes. After taking his new seat beside Shuichi, his eyes scanned over the code. " ..... This is code speak." His eyebrows furrowed as he read them off, " Out of service. Repeat. Out of service. Repeat. In service... Quickly. Emergency. Emergency... Report progress of fire. Need assistance. Need assistance. Need assistance..." 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when Hajime had repeated back the translated code that Kokichi was speaking in his sleep. Where and when could Kokichi have needed to use this code? Judging from the context of the code, it was probably subconsciously remembered from a past traumatic memory that the other had. Paired with the fact that Kokichi looked like and acted like he had been having nightmares instead of getting proper rest, it was fairly accurate to say Kokichi may be having a nightmare at the moment. Just not showing any outward signs of having one... or it may just have been a subconscious habit his mind was going through at the moment because of how exhausted he was. Either way, it was disheartening and concerning... He desperately wanted to know exactly how Kokichi knew that string of code, but he knew he'd probably have to go digging for the answer he wanted. After a while, the brunette gave his thanks to Teruteru, handing him the money of the drinks. He gave a small frown and noted Kokichi's lack of energy for the day, and if the chubby chef could call up one of the imp's roommates to pick him up so he could get some much needed rest. In the car, Hajime remained quiet, thinking and analyzing the code that was normally used for the police. Meanwhile Shuichi's thoughts drifted off to connect clues and pieces, stitching them up. Like how Kokchi was rather terrified of the ceiling and would never sleep under that type of surface. He was defiantly having troubles because he didn't freak out at the diner's ceiling. It was odd... 

But it was just another thing to add to the ever-growing pile of questions as the patrol car rolled up to a large factory. The outside was bleak and stone black. Iron doors, tight windows, and chimneys above spewing out a trail of smog. In the front looked to be a long gone forgotten garden, now dug up and scattered recklessly. Shuichi looked out the patrol car window at the large and bleak factory. Even just seeing the outside of the building made Shuichi nervous about going in... but, the detective took a small deep breath and pushing aside his feelings and thoughts about this morning in the process. If he was going to get any further in finding out all of the pieces of the puzzle, he needed to be one hundred percent focused. Once the car was parked, Shuichi had gotten out of the car and started up at the factory while standing besides the car. 

The older detective lead the way, all curiosity of the numerical code gone as his work was now presented. Inside wasn't as dreadful looking as the exterior, but it certainly wasn't that much better. Workers with hard gloves, overalls and boots continued their work with broken down metals, turning them into various car parts, weapons for the military, or items for construction. Everything was spaced apart as if there use to be more things here instead f the shipments of metal. After surveying the area a large, burly man of African-Asian decent, with a fro, similar to the young mascot of Kit's came down from some stairs, giving a hardy smile. He walked over to them both and shook their hands, which dwarfed in comparison, " How ya'll doing here?!" 

Hajime wobbled a bit from the sudden sturdy shake, nearly falling over, " W-Whoa-good sir! Hajime Hinata a-and Saihara Shuichi!" 

The large stalky man stopped and gave a smile, " Names Daisaku Bandai, nice to meet 'cha two!" 

Shuichi had regained his composure after the hearty shake, balancing back on his feet again before looking at the large man in front of them. Shuichi gave him a smile, " L-Likewise!" He then cleared his throat softly, having gotten into a routine now with having done this so much with Hajime and previously even before he came here. But lately it's just been about gathering testimonies about the past a lot since he arrived in this town." We're detectives, and we would like to ask you a couple things regarding a certain incident. I-If you wouldn't mind answering them, that is." 

The giant nodded, " Sure, sure, what 'cha guys be needing?" 

Before Shuichi could ask about his questions... Hajime had taken point, " We were told that D.I.C.E. may have snuck in the building or around it to hide a tiara, stolen nearly a week or so ago." 

" Ahhh, right, right. Yeah, I heard about that. Yeah sure, go on and take a look. Here, I'll even get ya' some help." 

" Ahhh-no, that's fine-" 

It was too late, the large man pulled out a megaphone that rested on his side, strapped to his belt. He flicked it on and walked away so the two wouldn't be deafened by the burst of noise, " HEY! Alright everybody listen up! That includes you Moshi-boy!" He called out pointing to a man with glasses who quickly swerved his head once his name was brought up, making some type of high-pitched noise. The machinery died down as he resumed, " We've got here some detectives looking for a tiara. Say D.I.C.E. may have hid it in or around here. We all best take a break and help these poor fella's. 'Cuz if not or ya' found it and hid it... Well... Ya'll don't want the boss here now do ya'?" Nearly every worker flinched as soon as their boss was mentioned and quickly got off what they were doing to search inside and outside. 

Hajime was a bit shocked at how quickly they had all went to helping, " U-Uhhh thanks. Now, if you don't mind." He said, seeking it for himself as well with a small group. Now was a good time to ask the large friendly man before he went on the goose chase as well. 

Shuichi broke himself out of being stunned on how all of the factory members were so quick to start helping to look to try and ask the large man he had just met a few questions of his own. He approached him quickly, looking up at him, “ U-Um, before you go off and help look,” Shuichi began, “ Do you mind if I ask a few questions of my own? I’m fairly new to this town, so anything you could tell me about this factory would be a really big help.” 

The brawny man stopped in his tracks, looking over and made his way back with a wide smile, " Why sure!" He strapped the megaphone back onto his waistline and stroked is own chin in thought, " Well let's see. My grandpappy use to know the original owner of this place back in the day. Came here to work 'bout five or so years ago. Back then this place was owned by Miss Akihito Yua. Place use to be more of an agricultural factory plus gardening and a tiny bit of a recycle plant. I came here to work 'cuz I love farmin'! Grandpappy let me work on his ranch and told me that this'd be the perfect place... Only thing is, was that when I had gotten to here, she died. Either accident or suicide..." His large happy smile shrunk into a massive frown. " Couldn't go back home with nothin', so I began workin' here, not wanting to disappoint my grandpappy." He sighed out, " I rather not tell him that I've been working on making weapons and such. Tryin' to raise enough money to start up my own farm." 

Shuichi had nodded softly when the information was given to him, listening to his troubles but also picking up quickly again on the name Akihito Yua and the details regarding her death. “ It sounds like she ran a really good factory when she was alive....Are there any rumors surrounding her death that you’ve heard of?” He asked. 

The bulky man nodded, " Sure did according to the previous workers. All got laid off once they got a new boss. Sides, none of them wanted to work for the guy anyway. So they got other jobs elsewhere, moved and what have you. They had been paid rather well. As for rumors, yeah. Rumors have it this kid she adopted killed her, but my grandpappy and I don't buy it. Why would someone she took in wanna' go and kill such a nice old lady? I mean unless you're just a prick that wants to ruin someones life just 'cuz yours was shitty. That don't even make it right." 

Shuichi had nodded softly, confirming that the rumors he had heard earlier were in fact legitimate rumors. Shuichi was also glad that he didn’t buy it... but he had to learn as much as he could about the whole situation regarding the factory. “ After she had died, did the next boss come in rather quickly? Or did it seem that way?” 

" Here, come walk with me buddy." He said, leading Shuichi near the side of the industrious building with lights looming overhead, " The Boss came in after a month or so after she passed away. Another reason people were a laid off is because they didn't know when the factory would be back up and running." Bandai then got to a large spaced out area with a large piece of machinery tucked away near the side. " This is where she was last according to the police." He pointed to the machine which looked fine enough until some metal was dumped onto the flat surface. The machine moved slowly, crushing the metal underneath it at an agonizing pace. " Yeah, none of us get near it until it's fully done after hearing about her death. We keep it on the low setting just in case someone does trip into it, they can get out. My best bet she tripped, hit her head and it was on fast before her kid could reach her. Not sure how the kid got locked in though." 

That’s when things had started to click for Shuichi. The sequence of numbers that Kokichi was repeating in his sleep and trying to figure out when he would have needed to use those... A shiver ran down Shuichi’s spine as he looked up to Bandai again in a more softer tone than before, “ If the child was locked in... would there be a way around here that they could send messages to law enforcement?” 

Bandai shook his head, " No unfortunately. That's why we've got them now. Poor girl probably had her cellphone on her but it got well... yeah. Police said he hadn't touched a thing either way, that includes the controls, the windows, the doors, nothing. It's like they just broke down and laid here for 'bout three days." He gave out a sigh, feeling horrible that such a thing had happened in the place he worked. 

Shuichi was disappointed that his hunch was wrong this time around, really wanting to know what those string of numbers were used for... but hearing the story about how nothing was touched and how he stayed like that for three whole days. Hearing the story repeated over and over with more details each time made Shuichi’s heart sink more and more each time as well. “ Well, I know this is negative thinking on my part, but... is there anyone who would have a motive to make it not an accident...?” 

Bandai's soft beady eyes widened at the thought of this type of thinking. He gave a worried look, " Oh jeez... I mean... I guess her kid could have pushed her, all that blood would splatter over any hand-print left on her, along with soaking into the clothes, little to no fingerprints would be there I'd guess..." 

Shuichi didn’t want to believe that at all. There was no way that kind of thing could have happened. He just... didn’t believe it could have played out this way. Kaito’s additive might have rubbed off on the detective more than he thought... He shook that possibility out of his mind and pressed on forward, “ Is there anyone else you can think of?” He asked, “ Anyone that the child or she knew?” 

The larger man rubbed the back of his neck, scratching at his wool like hair, " Well, think the only one would have been her soon to be hubby, but he was out of town. I mean if you were suggesting a hit-man, well not sure on that. If it was one of those brothers, the police would have found something from a previous victim wouldn't they?" He rose a brow, getting confused himself by this. 

Shuichi had thought about the possibilities for a moment before realizing that he was just confusing Bandai. Which, he didn’t mean to do. He didn’t want him to get swept up in all of this was well. So, Shuichi cleared his throat softly and spoke a soft, “ Maybe... B-But anyway, you said the child got locked in...? Do the locks on the doors here lock on the outside or from the inside?” 

" Use to be from the outside only, but now there's a hidden panel to unlock it from the inside, though you can't lock it inside. And besides in order to avoid that whole thing, there's several new doors that are always locked unless unlocked from the inside, including a few hidden ones in case someone tries to burn the place down and bar all the doors." 

Shuichi listened to the explanations on how the locks on the doors worked, taking a mental note on the for later. Shuichi tried to think of anymore questions he had regarding the incident but couldn’t seem to find anything to say. He had gotten information about what had actually happened and how the layout of the factory and the machines may have contributed to it... as well as potential people involved. Regrettably there was nothing else for the detective to find. No hard crashing evidence. Everything was cleaned, stainless. Or almost a stainless slate that was. If Shuichi's suspicion was right and it had been the brother's doings, they sure knew how to clean it all away. But one thing did irritate the back of his head. If they were there, they would have left something from a previous victim, it was their M.O. Yet the police didn't find anything of the sort... That gave the hint that maybe the brothers weren’t the one who had done it. Maybe they were involved somehow, but maybe they weren’t the ones who actually... you know. But that wasn’t a highly back-able theory without any solid evidence. Then again, it would be hard to prove anything really without any solid evidence. However, Shuichi looked up to the large man and spoke, “ Well, thank you for answering my questions. You were a really big help.” 

The much larger man gave off his great smile, happy that he could have helped in the very least, " No problem there buddy!" He said, patting Shuichi on the back, only making him drop to the floor from such a hardy smack. Bandai broke into a nervous sweat, kneeling down to help the detective who had the wind knocked out of him, " Oh god! I am so sorry!" He chuckled nervously giving a sorry form of smile as he helped him up from the ground. 

Shuichi had coughed slightly as he tried to regain his breath from having it smacked out of him. He stood up again with the help of Bandai, giving the other a reassuring smile, “ I-It’s fine, really. Just means I have to get stronger.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moshi is short for Moshirgae (Hope I spelled that right) From Corpse Party. Again the LPer I watched for all DanganRonpa games played that before any other games. He gave the character this irritating voice and will constantly use it for certain characters. So, it has been a running joke for years.
> 
> When the leader had the cards out... None of what Shuichi picked would be 'correct' due to loopholes. If he chose just one card, they'd have said I'm more than one person and the card that has three names isn't it (Lie). If he chose a card with two names, they'd have said something along the same lines.
> 
> Yes Kokichi just pulled The Office prank. I'm kinda sad no one knows about Psych, Happy!, or Arrested Development, but man know The Office. And yes, Kokichi referenced, 'Just Monica'.


	34. Follow Me Then You'll See, Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To City Hall! And some fluff roommate stuff...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Another small block of anime bullshit trope of not remembering will be in this chapter, sorry! I try not to do them much, but hey the games pull it...

Yet again in the car, Hajime gave out a long drawn out sigh. He slumped over to rest his head against the wheel, headaches seeping into his brain of how badly he was failing at this goose chase. Though it had been a lie to get more information, Hajime sure was hoping to retrieve the tiara, or to have something fruitful to give to his chief. " Ugh... This is just like them!" He yelled out, punching the dashboard, gritting his teeth to bare the sudden pain, " They lead us on and on and yet nothing! Fucking nothing!" He gave a defeated exhale of air, " S-Sorry. Just tired of not getting any closer to doing something of use." 

Shuichi felt really bad for lying to Hajime to get more information, knowing that he was hoping to actually find something relevant to the tiara. It made Shuichi feel evil almost, like he was using Hajime. However, he had gotten a lot of useful information from this... and it really had gotten Shuichi closer to the truth of what happened. Maybe... he could try and play a game with the leader of D.I.C.E to get the tiara back. They had given Shuichi stolen goods before... so maybe they could do that again? “ I-It’s okay,” Shuichi replied, “ We still have more places to check, don’t we...? The search isn’t over yet. I-I’m sure we’ll find something.” 

The older detective nodded, " Y-yeah, yeah.. We do... Thank god tomorrow will be short so I relax from all this damn stress." He started up the vehicle, driving off to the Mayor's office. " Okay, we're going to Town Center, be good-oh hell why am I saying that, you'll be fine. Let me handle The Mayor okay? She can be kind of cold at times. Maybe you can gain some info from her assistant or the journalist who works there. I mean, you got to have good publicity right?" 

Shuichi nodded at Hajime’s words, deciding it would be best to just follow along with what he said to try and calm him down from the whole frustration that just happened. “ Yeah, that sounds about right.” He spoke, planning to do just that. He would get information about his own case he was building as well through the assistant and the journalist. 

Once the two got to the center of town, Hajime parked the patrol car near the steps that lead up to a large Gothic themed building, people with business suits going in and out. Investors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, prosecutors, just about any suit wearing job one could think of. Hajime got out, taking hold of the icy sheeted railing, careful not to trip along the stairs or get his hand stuck on the railing from the ice's stickiness. But once inside, the main lobby led to various hallways, but not before going by the front desk that set with the sleek tiles below, surrounded by decorative walls, paintings, and vases.. " Excuse me. Hajime Hinata and Saihara Shuichi." The woman at the front desk was busy on the phone talking to someone she was probably friends with as she kept talking, handing the detective a card and pointing down the main hall. She adjusted her large glasses as she scrolled on her computer, making Hajime roll his eyes before going down the hall and entering a room that was rather lavish. More decorations were around the entirety of of the medium sized room, with a large clean rug, and a heavy desk set in front of some windows. Inside the room stood a rather... Robust and rounded man looking through some papers near the desk-Was that Togami? No... No, he was way too... Fat. 

" Ah there you are detectives, good to meet you. The mayor will be right in. Have a seat please." Though this guy looked like the arrogant asshole of the Togami Corp. he was rather nice, setting two chairs up for them both to take a seat. He looked rather diligent for such a big guy. His eyes caught Shuichi's, " Togami Ryota, pleasure to meet you." 

The appearance of the robust man had thrown Shuichi off a bit and now that he had introduced himself Shuichi was just a touch more confused. However, Shuichi didn’t let any of that phase his response towards the other at all, not judging someone based on appearance... and in this case, common names. “S-Saihara Shuichi, a pleasure to meet you as well.” 

" Hmmm, judging by the look, you've met my half-brother. Not to worry, I am much more preserved in communicating like an actual human other than treating people like peons." He said before returning to the table's side, waiting for his boss. 

A few more moments later, the mayor herself had walked into the room. She held herself high, posture perfect, hands resting in front of her instead of at her sides or behind her. She had a gentle look on her face, even if her expression wasn’t expressing a lot. She first had walked up to the two detectives, putting on a gracious smile before speaking. “ Hello, detectives. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit here?” 

The older detective bowed his head a bit in his seat, in respect to the powerful woman who looked like she was more of a maid with spider attire than an actual mayor, " Miss Kirumi." he greeted her before letting her know why the visit, " Rumor has it D.I.C.E. has hidden the tiara around or inside this building and we would like to search the place at your discretion... As well as obtaining a pass to see The Tengan Mansion. It's one of the possible spots we were given from their little 'challenge'. " 

The round male gave a small noise of intrigue, " Hm. They must be growing much more bold to even dare invade this building. Along with being more skilled." 

Kirumi walked over to the large desk in the room, taking a seat in the chair that was behind it and placing her hands on the table as Hajime explained the situation to her. “ Indeed. Well, that is certainly troubling...” She began to speak, glancing at the detectives, “ I entrust the situation to the both of you then. Search this building as you see fit, I’ll make sure my staff can assist you as needed as well. After you two have conducted your search I will grant you a pass to go and visit the mansion.” Shuichi didn’t really understand why a pass was needed to go and visit the mansion, but it did make sense. It was almost like a king in his castle... 

Hajime bowed his head again, " Thank you very much." He got up, having the rounder man get out a walkie-talkie, adjusting it to speak in, reporting staff to help with the search. " Oh right. Before I forget, my partner is still fairly new and he wanted to look into some old files that your journalist might have." 

Ryota nodded, reequipping the walkie-talkie onto his belt, " She's right down the hall to the left. Madam Tojo, may I tag along with Hinata, I think we'd be able to find it working together due to his partner wanting more information of the past dealings with the group." 

Kirumi had nodded softly when Ryota had asked permission to pair along with Hajime. “ Yes, that would be perfectly fine. I hope the search for both the tiara and information goes well.” She then gave the two a soft smile. 

Shuichi looked over at the mayor and returned the smile she gave with a smile of his own, “ Th-Thank you for all of your hospitality.” 

The mayor simply nodded at the detective, speaking out a short and sweet “ The pleasure is all mine, Mister Saihara.” It was still rather odd to see the mayor of all people actually get up and somewhat help the search... That was one hell of a mayor, normally they would just sit there doing paperwork from all Shuichi knew. 

But once the thought was gone and the permission was granted he found himself n a room cluttered with tables and a vast amount of papers stacked nearly to the top of the room. A large printer to the side and many lined up file cabinets in the back. At first he saw no signs of life until some red poked up from behind the main table. Up came a girl with a short red bowl cut, a camera waiting to be used around her neck, and intense eyes examining some paper she had retrieved from the ground. She caught the outline of Shuichi out from the corner of her eye, starting her, " Ah!" She jumped back dropping the paper, which she went to get again then give a glare to the boy, " Who are you?! You're not my publisher!" 

Shuichi had jumped slightly when the red haired girl, who he had assumed was the journalist he was here to see. The glare was enough to send the detective into a shy and defensive state, holding his hands up slightly. He spoke frantically to her “ S-Saihara Shuichi! I-I’m a detective here to just ask some questions!” 

The red head gave a small huff, furrowing her brows and pulling up her lip into a frown as she scanned him, " Jeez, I thought a detective would be more confident. Would you man up, I nearly mistook you for some of those really twiggy guys I see at Star-Lucks. Those hips don't help your case... Anyway, Mahiru. Koizumi Mahru. What kind of questions you got?" 

Shuichi had questioned why everyone seemed to comment on his hips whenever pointing out how shy or bashful he was... but that’s not what mattered now. The detective pushed that thought out of his head before clearing his throat and starting to ask the questions that he had, “ So... do you have any information about the incident at the factory that killed Akihito Yua?” 

Her eye instantly lit up and widened. Just the name alone made her rush to the back, fumbling about the cabinets. Was it a touchy subject? Was she antsy and just turning away to ignore him? At first that's what it seemed like, but low and behold she was flipping thought documents and-... Stopping. She snapped her fingers, remembering something. She started to shove some of the heavy cabinets until they made a small narrow space to the back wall. She dropped to her knees and reached into the gap taking out files. She hopped back up and with one swing of her arm, knocked everything off the main table, slamming the old dusty and lint covered document onto it. " Hooooly shit! I thought I'd never get to come back to this again! It all happen when I was a photographer in high school!" 

Shuichi blinked when things were shoved aside to make room for this one old document that she had brought out after asking that question. The detective had gotten closer to the table, peering down at the document and starting to read it while at the same time asking her a question, “ So, what can you recall about it? 

" Everything!" She gave a wide smile... Only to frown slowly, " Or... At least I did. See, the thing is, is that when her son was being picked up by the loony bin's van, something hit me and I couldn't recall some faces after that, like, a whole year was just stripped from me really... My camera was crushed, and most of my pictures were gone but one. I was... Kind of trespassing for the scoop. But when police found the old lady, they originally had the pictures of the whole thing. But someone stole them or burned them up along with most if not all reports. They gave me the last known picture once I got my job, in case whoever had rid the evidence came back." 

Shuichi had raised a brow when he heard she had just suddenly forgot a whole year after being hit by something... but what could have hit her? It was obviously intentional, but still. That also matches up with some of the missing reports or files in the records at the police station... but looking at this last picture was something that was on Shuichi’s priority list. It could provide a lot of information about the whole scene. Mahiru scavenged the document, drawing out the picture. The photo seemed t have been taken around the gates of the mansion, she must have perched herself on a decorative pillar while the gating went from side to side, with the pillar in the middle. However the photo was rather heart wrenching to say the least. 

A van was parked in front of the mansion which looked bright, colorful, and full of life as flowers bloomed along the side of the large abode. Tengan was seen leaning on his cane, signing a file on a clipboard a man held for him, while two other large men wearing uniforms with the institution's symbol were pulling or pushing someone into the van's back, door blocking their face and torso. Shuichi could see another man trying to ease the new patient, putting his hands up like one would for a ravaged animal. All Shuchi could see were the bottom of a person's legs flailing out. Well that, and a cut of purple near the back door poking out... But it looked much too like a film blur or a shine of from the sun and onto something in the yard. Once Shuichi had taken everything in the photo into memory, he took a moment to analyze everything that the picture had solidly proved. It meant that Tengan was the one to officially sign of and send off, who he assumed was Kokichi, to the Institution. While the picture was heart-wrenching to see, it provided other information as well that could be assumed. Like how Tengan had the authority to send him to the institution despite Kokichi being adopted by Akihito Yua. That implies that they had some form of relationship that would cause Kokichi to be handed over into his care... maybe that’s what Tengan wanted originally? To get him out of the way? 

Mahiru shuffled some papers around as she began to get more photographs out, " I use to write and document a whole bunch of theories, taking lots of photos. Not sure if you'll humor me any, but hear me out and take a look. Because I think those hit-men brothers-if you've heard of them, the Ma-" She glanced to the detective who looked to know very well, " Ah, so you know of them. Not sure how but I think they might be connected. So I left some of their pictures in here. Technically these are also police photos... Buuuut, well... I couldn't help myself from making copies..." 

Shuichi had looked down at the photos that she had that were related to the case. “ Well, in this case, I’m glad you made copies of police photos... just maybe make sure you don’t do it again.” He gave the other a nervous smile before speaking again, “ I'll also hear you out on any theories you might have.” He then truly began looking over the photos that she had set out in front of him, happy to have some more solid evidence that related to the case instead of just accounts of people. 

The pictures he went through were really not for the faint of heart... Each were photos of the brother's demises. A signature of Genocider Jack, zoo attendants fishing out body parts from the water, the long tongue recovered near the institution, a single shot through the head, and a grisly scene at the headquarters of the Yakuza, Shuichi had sat in prior. She gave a nervous nod, " I know, but I just couldn't let it go. I've got theories that someone somehow snuck in and killed Yua. Maybe Tengan? Maybe he hired those guys, but there'd be a leftover of previous victim. Maybe whoever was trying to only kill the kid or maybe even both." She thought more to herself, relaying her other theories. " Maybe Tengan wanted the factory, or wanted the house, perhaps both. One of those brothers was found kind of near the mansion, not close enough but just far away enough with a bullet. Maybe Tengan went back on the deal. Maybe he sent the other brothers out to get rid of the kid. There's just an endless supplies of theories..." She sighed out before pulling two pictures out that made her gag, hiding them away so Shuichi wouldn't catch sight of them. 

Shuichi had listened to her, wincing softly as he was shown the gruesome photos. But, a lot of her theories could be correct... maybe Tengan had hired the brothers to kill Kokichi but never had gotten the chance to because of their dwindling numbers. Or haven’t gotten a chance yet at least. And then... he personally could have killed Yua. That would explain why there was no leftover of a previous victim. And Tengan’s motive to kill her would be to gain the house and the factory because of his connection with her, which was proved by his authority to sign off for her adopted child to go to a mental institution... She shook her head, " But Tengan wasn't in town when it happened. There's business witnesses including surveillance evidence. I took a look and the cameras around the factory just stopped filming, like someone hacked into them somehow. The guy couldn't be in two places at once, and there's no way on of those creepy guys could make themselves look like him. It's not their style..." She trailed off, sliding the two pictures to Shuichi, both upside-down so he couldn't see them. 

Shuichi had nodded softly, thinking about possible reasons why the Madarai brothers couldn’t have left something behind. Because if Tengan wasn’t the one who did it himself, it was most likely the brothers... Shuichi glanced down at the pictures that were slid to him, taking a deep breath before curiously picking up the photos and looking at them. The two newly presented photos were ones enough to make a stomach do several somersaults to say the least. One wasn't so bad, a picture of the hydrophilic press Shuichi had been near earlier stuck and vibrant (pink/red?) dried out and dripping onto the floor from the faintest of cracks with a white strand of sting poking out with the seeped out blood. The other however held a full body of just pulverized mess made up of clothes, skin, bones, sinew, blood and organs, all compressed into one. Other than being hard to look at, due to just how grisly it was, had the strand poke out, something white and clothed that wasn't clothes. Unfortunately it was to smashed in and soaked with blood to really know what it was. 

Shuichi didn’t really feel great while looking at the photos, but knew it had to be done for the sake of putting this case together. Ignoring all of the blood and organs he narrowed in on the white and clothed object. Maybe that’s what was left behind? It had just gotten blood soaked and unrecognizable. Either that or the object was taken away from the scene before the police could arrive by one of the people who where there... one of those people being Kokichi. Either way, Shuichi had a potential reason for the object to not plainly be there as it normally would for the pattern of killings done by the Madarai brothers. Shuichi put the photos face down on the table, regaining his composure. The journalist frowned as she packed away the macabre pictures back into the folder, " I'm really sorry, but this is all I've got. Trust me, I wish I had more information, but..." She gave out a heavy shy and shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't much but three pictures of them could have potential clues hidden deep in them. The strand, the strand leading into the pile of blood, and the small purple glint. Again, it was rather hard to tell, but it was something none the less. 

Shuichi gave her a soft smile, more than happy with the evidence that she was able to provide in the form of photographs, “ No no, you’ve been a really big help!” He exclaimed. The pictures had given him more of a clue on what the scene actually looked like, and the kind of power that Tengan had held over the child being stuffed into the back of the institution’s van. Which he still assumed was Kokichi, the purple blur not enough evidence to prove it but hinting at it. 

A little later while Mahiru was showing the detective photos of D.I.C.E.-hell even ones where there were all of them grouped together for the photo shoot. They were really having fun at that point. Again it was hard to make out who would have been who considering some photos had reindeer masks, Halloween oriented, yokai, clowns, and other animal masks, along with different get ups, again with fat suits, stilts, and fake boobs. Though half did consist of a number of animals, which were more than likely their designated animals. Lamb, rabbit, lion, cat, shark, bat, cheetah, owl, sloth, ape, rat, and of course that damn fox. Though some did wear other animals such as a goat, dragon, snake, tiger, alligator, hyena, dolphin, crow, lemur, kangaroo, boar, and a wolf perhaps, or another fox, maybe a raccoon... This was around the time Hajime came into the room, looking more irritable then before. Glancing away from the photos, Shuichi looked over at Hajime as he walked into the room looking displeased. Shuichi assumed that he didn’t find anything of use- actually, Shuichi knew from the start that Hajime wouldn’t find anything of use pertaining to where the tiara was... it still made him feel bad, but Shuichi had managed to get a lot of information. Hesitantly, Shuichi had asked, “ I-I’m assuming there wasn’t any luck?” 

His older partner wasn't having it today, looking more pissed than usual. He pushed his palm into his eye to rub it, groaning, " No..." The guy didn't want to get angry at Shuichi, but when he got annoyed and angry, he'd lash out at times, more than likely in the past. He liked Shuichi, and he'd rather not let him see that side of him, he was a good kid. " We're going. Do you want a ride home?" He asked with tired eyes. 

Shuichi didn’t know if he should accept the ride home from Hajime or not. The other looked pretty tired and he was annoyed to high heaven so Shuichi didn’t want to do anything that might set him off or something of the like. So, the navy haired detective shook his head softly and spoke with a soft smile, “ Thanks for the offer...but I have a few places I want to stop at before I go back home.” A lie, of course, but he didn’t want Hajime to feel obligated to go out of his way to give him a ride home. 

The other nodded a bit, " Mrm, alright, sorry Shuichi. I'll-I'll see you tomorrow." He said turning away muttering about how Haiji was going to spit him out for this wild goose chase. Thankfully D.I.C.E. has been more obscure as of late, more than likely they got the prized tiara. 

Mahiru frowned as she crossed her arms, " So... Do you like really need a ride home? Because I can tell 'that' is something you don't want to ride with." 

Shuichi looked over to Mahiru, not wanting to inconvenience her at all for his decision on not riding with Hajime. Besides, a walk home in the cold is probably what he deserved for lying to Hajime-and most likely the whole department-about false leads that they’d been following for days on end. The detective shook his head, “ No, I’ll be okay. I really do have some places I want to stop by anyway.” 

She nodded and gave him a paper with her cellphone on it, " Alright, well, here. Just in case. You never know when you need a photographer out there~!" She smiled, waving her finger with an enthusiastic wink. 

The streets were cold, yet people around the center were setting up various stands and decorations for the upcoming event. Seemed to be a type of festival for the quint little town as the people who lived here set it up, proud and happy about the event of their town. Even a few faces Shuichi had met around town, including one who was wearing as mask-... Hey wait a minute! The sly fox with the dictatorship themed hat watched him across one of the streets, hiding behind a stand's poster. No one had noticed the crafty leader who stared at the detective before sprinting off down the street and around the corner. Shuichi had widened his eyes when the leader had started to sprint down the street and around the corner, wondering why the masked leader would be watching him walk home of all things... but, Shuichi thought it wouldn’t hurt to follow him to see where he was going. The detective didn’t sprint or run, rather he jogged slightly to the end of the street and around the corner to see if the leader was still there or if he was just being messed with. As Shuichi made it around he saw a door from one of the buildings to the side just close. The leader was sure to have scurried in there. Shuichi had walked up to the door to the building that had closed just as he turned the corner, walking up to it and opening it back up again before walking inside and glancing around to see if he could find the fox masked leader anywhere inside. 

While the shy detective briskly ran around the corner, Leon was setting up a stand nearby, sighing to his roommates, especially Rantaro, " He's got it bad... Think he'll be okay?" 

Saionji huffed giving her opinion on the matter as she helped the foul mouthed Miu, " Pth, it'll be his own fault for bringing along that stupid mask." 

Leon gave a glare, " Didn't ask you, you little gremlin... Ibuki, got anything?" 

The hyperactive and cheery girl closed her eyes and poked her head with both pointer fingers, sticking her tongue out as she concentrated for once, " Mmm! Soooounds like they're going into Mister Inshu's place." 

Rantaro glanced over to Leon, letting out a soft sigh and patting his shoulder, “ I’m pretty sure he can hold his own with him. Don’t need to worry so much, you know? Even if it does backfire, we’ll be right here for him to fall back onto.” 

" Right, righ-Ack! Damn you and your overgrown jelly tits, Miu! If you're going to struggle to put up the damn sign, don't even try!" Leon barked out as the sign he was trying to hold up fell onto the top of his head, creating a decent sized knot. 

Miu looked at Leon, cackling as the sign fell on top of his head. “ That’s right karma’s a bitch, Le-hard-on!” She laughed at her own pun she had made out of Leon’s name, thinking it was hilarious when in fact it wasn’t even that good to begin with. 

To be fair none of the others laughed at Leon but the stuck up brat did, pointing and laughing. The tall lanky and lazy member waked over, picking her up and walking off as if she was a toy, " H-Hagekure! Put me dooooown!" 

" Nah, no more sugar for you lil' 'mon." 

Rantaro walked up to Leon, peering at him and at the place on his head where the sign had made an impact, “ Hey, are you okay? Seemed like it hit you pretty hard there.” 

The red head groaned, " Yeeeah, just a small bump is all." 

Gonta walked over with a grand smile and picked the sign without any effort, making Miu hang off of it on the other end. " Gonta can help!" 

Miu had widened her eyes and yelled loudly when Gonta had lifted her up along with the sign, flailing her legs softly, “ Hey! Put me down numb nuts! You’re supposed to help hand the sign, not nail me with it too!” 

The gentle giant quickly but softly put her onto the ground, " Oh! Gonta is sorry about that." 

Miu crossed her arms, scoffing off to the side but not actually angry at Gonta at all, “ Yeah, better be...” 

The other thin male with the purple scarf and scar sat next to the 'mom' of the group, shaking his head, " So... Are you sure it is wise to leave Kokichi with the detective tomorrow? He sounded excited, but you know how... Clingy he can get." 

Rantaro looked over to Gundham as he spoke, pausing for a second to grab his own chin and think before replying, “ I think it’ll be fine. He’s never really branched out like this before so I think it’s a good opportunity for him. Sure I’m worried about him too, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Even if we didn’t want him to go and stay with the detective, he can get pretty stubborn if he wants to.” 

Gundham nodded, " Right... I just worry he might do something stupid like last year when he hid in the closet and bit Gonta's hand like a hurt and starved animal. Then again movies did entertain him for a while... But again, he and Saionji got into a fight with bloody noses." He gave out a sigh, " Gonta had to hold him down until he tired himself out and I know you hate seeing him restrained." 

Rantaro nodded softly at Gundham’s last comment, thinking it over once again but coming up with the same conclusion he had before, “ Well... it’ll be a test of some sort then. If he can handle Kokichi, then it’s safe to say we can trust the detective with him. But if he doesn’t... well he might just not want to be with him anymore anyway and it’ll end itself. Worst case scenario I get a call and have to go get him.” Even though the second solution was on the more dark and negative side, it was undoubtedly true. 

The taller male sat beside the green hared and piercing boy, patting his back, " Let us hope he will prevail then shall we?" 

Rantaro sighed softly, nodding, “ Yeah. Let’s hope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we still don't know Twogami's real idetinty, there was a name he went by, but we don't know if it's is real name or another person he pretended to be.
> 
> Also, Kokichi has been having pre-day jitters.


	35. Strange Things Did Happen Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wish we got to spend more time at the zoo, but oh well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments give me hope ;w; *Shoves Komadea away for hope*  
>  **Warning - Please read notes after chapter for some clarification and two stories you may never heard about.**

Inside the store was actually a bar of sorts. No one was inside since a small sign said 'Closed' before Shuichi had walked in. It wasn't a normal place to drink that he had seen, instead it looked more like some Irish or English pub. As he looked around, the giggle of the fox came from behind, speaking into the mic softly. Before being able to look over his shoulder, the gloved hands he was use to were placed on his shoulders, the leader getting on their tiptoes to whisper to him, " Upupu, hello my dear Detective~." 

Shuichi had jumped slightly when hands were placed on his shoulder and the leader had whispered into his ear, not expecting it all of a sudden like that but then looking behind him at the fox masked face behind him. “ H-Hi...” He mumbled softly, a casual greeting, “ Mind explaining why you lead me here...?” 

A grin under the mask spread, or that's what Shuichi could imagine. The leader dug their fingers into his shoulder, not necessary painful, but not comforting in the slightest, " Oh, I was just walking by and noticed you. Sides, I'm friends with the owner here. I slip in and out all the time, upupupu. He's tried hard to lock me out, so he stopped trying. Only reason I'm here is because you followed." 

Shuichi had kept looking back at the masked person behind him, wondering if it was just a pure coincidence that they had seen him and had sprinted off into this building trying to lead him here or not. But, either way, both of them were here now. This might be a good time to ask about that tiara, “ Well...” He spoke, “ This is good timing I guess, because I wanted to propose something to you.” 

The leader rested their head on his shoulder, " Ohhh? Do you really think you're in the position to propose something to me? Because I don't think you are..." After a bit of silence the fox hopped off from him and sat on one of the rounded tables, " But, I'll indulge you just this once~." 

Shuichi was glad that the leader had seemed to listen to him this once, even thought he knew he was in no place to be bargaining with them. “ Well...I’d like the tiara back. And we’ve done something similar before where you return the stolen items in return for doing something else. So, I’d like to... play a game or wager for it.” 

The masked stranger looked as bored as someone wearing a mask could get once he had asked for the tiara back, but instantly perked up at paying a simple game or wager. " Ohhhh, and what is this game or wager you have in mind~?" They cooed out, easily falling for the laid out bait. 

Shuichi had thought for a moment, not really having got that far into his whole plan. He didn’t even really know what to wager or what game to play really... “ Um...” The detective mumbled out softly, filling in the pause with a empty sound before speaking again, “ Well, what do you think the tiara is worth? In terms of wagers or games, that is.” 

The masked person's excited perk lowered down as if to bore holes into the detective. " It's worth A LOT. I know that for sure detective. As for games and wagers I'm unsure, mainly because wasn't on planning handing it back. Sooo, I thought you'd have had something planned." They said, tapping the top part of their mask to signify one to start thinking. " If we're to be in our little 'relationship', I can't always be the one making the plans now can I~?" 

Shuichi had thought for a moment, knowing it had to be an intriguing and high risk game if it was for something as valuable as the tiara. The detective thought about what he had on his person before pulling out the taser he was given when he became a detective in this town. He placed it on the table but not before taking the battery pack out of the bottom of it and setting it on the table next to it. He also reached into the little pouch he carried the taser in, taking out what seemed to be a sore battery. “ I made sure the taser worked when I got it, but for some reason it didn’t work. I changed the battery and it turned on and worked just fine and I haven’t used it since. I-I meant to exchange the battery that didn’t work but kept forgetting to. So... I’ll mix these two batteries up and you choose which one goes into the taser. If I don’t get tased... I get the tiara. If I do get tased, then you get to keep it. Sound fair?” 

The stranger's hand twitched with high anticipation as they eyed the taser, listening well to the painful game Shuichi had given them. Something in them sparked, but with that damned mask on, he wasn't able to pinpoint if it was of fear, sadism, or worry. Maybe a mix of all three... The leader walked over to the table and tapped the side of the mask's head. They looked up to the detective, " This sounds... Interesting~." They chuckled darkly under their fake face. " I accept to these terms. Upupupu~. So, who gets to mix the batteries and put them in~?" 

Shuichi had looked at the leader as they had walked up to the table and asked about who would be mixing the batteries and putting it in the taser. “ You can do it.” The detective spoke, “ You’ll mix the batteries up and then put it in the taser and then set it on the table.” 

They shrugged, shaking their head as they chuckled, " Ohhh my dear, dear Detective~... You are so naive.... How about, we switch it up a bit~?" Their laughter spiraled down into laughing someone who would relish torture and listen to hours on end of their fresh victims, drawing the agonizing pain out. The leader grabbed both batteries and quickly shuffled them around with precision and agility, even going as far as to quickly snatching one and putting it into the taser and pointing it out to the detective. " Hehehehe... Oh, this'll be such fun. I hope you're a screamer~." Well... Good to see them binge on any dark desires... Not really. 

Shuichi reached out and grabbed the taser from the leader, only now realizing how nervous he was over this. And how much the other seemed to be enjoying this game... The detective steadied himself, taking a deep breath and exhaling it out through his mouth before raising the taser up and pressing it against his right temple. He grasped onto the taser firmly in his hand, closing his eyes softly. It was better to get this over with quickly instead of building up anticipation within himself, right? So, after one more deep breath Shuichi gathered the courage he needed and he squeezed down on the trigger for the taser. The thief quickly snatched the taser away from him, " Whoa, whoa, the hell do you think you're doing?!" They snapped at him, red eye flaring up to meet their mood, " You never aim for the temple! I know you might want to say goodbye to your brain, become a vegetable but like hell I'm letting that happen!" The leader snarled out, extremely worried, upset, and angered. " I told you! Without you! I-I..." The fox let off a shiver that had trickled down their spine, " I wouldn't have anyone to play with..." Shuichi had widened his eyes, stunned not by the fact that the taser hadn’t really done anything but more towards the leader’s reaction about where the taser was placed. Shuichi guessed he was just so caught up in the moment he didn’t even stop to think rationally... but Shuichi didn’t think he’d ever felt such an angry, worried, and upset nature from the masked leader before. More so because it concerned the detective’s well-being. The anger pumped back up as they grabbed hold of the detective and shoved them again the wall. For someone so damn tiny, they sure could hold him in place, though that might have just been from the shock and panic. " If you want to do it right, you do it like this!" They started to cackle out, holding the taser to Shuichi's lower right side, far away from the heart and any vital organs. They pulled the trigger but nothing happened, " H-hehehehe..." 

It was only a few moments afterwards that Shuichi had noticed that the taser really didn’t do anything, his rapid heartbeat coming down. So the reaction that the leader gave off was for nothing, the bad battery having been placed in the taser... Shuichi let out a soft sigh of relief, looking down at the other who still had him pinned against the wall “ S-So... that means I win then.” 

The smaller person's hand trembled as they grasped the taser. Did they really not know which battery was which, they seemed to have studied them for a moment. Or maybe they did know it was the bad battery but still felt obligated to protect the navy haired boy. They gave out faint pants that Shuichi could only hear when all was silent upon them both. " Yeah... Yeah, you win. You win detective..." They were slowly regaining themselves, thankful for the fox to cover up their expressions. They placed the taser and good battery into Shuichi's pocket and let go turning around, only to psych him out and harshly shove Shuichi against the wall, gloved hand on one of the wrists while the other took out a pocket knife, sheathing it. " Upupupu~." They slammed the weapon's blade into the wall near his head and slid it to rest at the side of Shuichi's neck, " Yoooou really pissed me off... But I have a more important question, than punishing you." 

Shuichi had widened his eyes and stumbled back into the wall when pushed, being thrown off by the blade resting next to the side of his neck. Instinctively, the detective leaned his head to the side to avoid the blade while looking down at the leader who was clearly upset. The navy haired boy gulped slightly before asking nervously, “ Wh-What is it..?” 

" ..... If I was a vampire and you were a hunter, would you let me turn you into an immortal demon of the night, full of lies, picking people off in your teeth, and denouncing your humanity? Or would you fight for what is just, fight for the little right in the world, and stand up for humanity by slaying the beast?" The glowing eye shined over Shuichi, piercing any other light that was in the room. " Or... Would you leave the demon to their devices? Forgive them for all the wrongs? And maybe even, have both of us continue fruitless fights all for the sake of fun?" .... What the flying fruity fuck did this have to do with anything?! ... This was most likely being a case of such stress that the leader didn't even know how to react to be livid to someone, or too scared to even try... Or they read too much manga and watched to much anime... Either that or they were just rambling because it was a distraction for them to handle their emotions from running rampant. 

Shuichi had decided to entertain the question the leader seemed to have, guessing because it was so out of context that it was just something to help them cope with the intense emotions they were feeling. So, after a few moments of thinking Shuichi replied with, “ I think I would let you turn me into a vampire so I could better understand you... except I would still hold onto the pieces of humanity I still have while forgiving the wrong doings you’ve supposedly committed and to remain meeting with you. I-If that makes sense...” 

They shook their head dismissively, " You really are too good for your own safety Saihara..." That was a heart drop... A very heavy and hard heart like drop. Not once since the two met had they ever said his last name. The mask looked up at them, the red glow fading slowly away somewhat in disappointment. " It's going to get you hurt some day... Being nice just gets you hurt... And that pain will always stay within you. That's not a lie. It's the truth." Perhaps why they had given a third option was because they knew they couldn't handle themselves. And if they couldn't let someone go besides them like their other 'minions', they would loose control. They needed a balance, a yin for their yang in a way. It was all very confusing. 

Shuichi had taken in what the other had said, even acknowledging in his mind that it was in this context that the leader said part of his actual name for the first time instead of just ‘detective’. He then spoke up again, this time with more confidence, “ Even if my kindness gets me hurt some day... and even if the pain will never go away... that doesn’t mean the pain has to hold me back. Pain can be very hard to deal with, but that doesn’t mean it won’t prevent me from moving forward.” 

The thief gave a sigh and took the blade away from the wall, where to had scrapped a bit of paint. They let go of his wrist, letting their arms fall beside them, leaning forward to rest on Shuichi's chest, " Please... I don't need someone whose that sweet. You wont just get hurt, you'll die. But I don't need someone whose all out to get me. I'll break if I go back. I just... I just want someone whose unmovable to keep me in place." 

Shuichi looked down at the leader who was now resting on his chest, understanding partially what they had meant about needing someone who was ‘unmovable’. “ I...” He began to speak out, “ I-I’m not going to go anywhere, anytime soon... I know I’m too trusting, and I need to be more careful around people... but... I’ll stand up to the people who I feel the need to stand up to. I promise...” 

The leader hadn't planned for this to turn around and backlash them in any way. They didn't budge or say anything, only resting against him, their thoughts and past getting the upper hand with them like puddy. It stayed like this for a while until the leader spoke up, mustering themselves up from not choking up on their words, " That sounds like something she would say... What she said before she left... You can never be too trusting. But you should never make people hate you. We both fell for those extremities and look where that got us... Be here, be careful, be the detective I think you can be." 

Shuichi had knew exactly who the leader was talking about when they said ‘she’, listening to the rest of their words and committing them to his memory and committing them to his heart. The detective nodded softly, carefully wrapping his arms around the other delicately as they kept resting against them. He spoke out the next words with resolve and determination interlacing with his usual comforting tone, “ I will.” 

Yet again the small framed leader's breath hitched, body suddenly freezing up as they felt the tender touch from the detective. It took a moment but they adjusted themselves into the soft embrace. Breathing going back to normal as lulled themselves into a state of safety and comfort. " I'll be waiting for you." They were getting too relaxed. Whenever they got worked up like this, they'd get sleepy, which is not something a supreme leader should ever get. Shuichi had felt the other relax and adjust to the hug in his arms, happy that they could get this way and feel this safe and comfortable in his arms to the point where they could just relax. The detective kept the leader in his arms and stayed like that, willing to stay like that for as long as the masked leader would need. 

Several minutes passed by, the small leader in pure bliss at just being held and knew the detective was too meager to try and pull anything off, which let them put their constant guard down. After those precious minutes, the pub's overhead bell rung out, alerting that someone had come in. A much older man who was in their later years walked in and saw the two. " Knew you were here if the door was unlocked." 

The thief hopped off the detective and chuckled, " You know me too well Rei~!" 

The man rolled his eyes behind his glasses and crept behind his bar, opening a mini-fridge and retrieving a pack of sodas, putting them on the counter, " Go on n' git. Leave your hostage here." 

" Done and done~!" The stranger dashed over snatching the drinks, " Catch me later Detective~!" With that they rushed out. 

The pub's owner glanced to Shuichi, " Okay down there?" 

Shuichi had watched as the leader had rushed out of the establishment with the pack of soda in tow. Shuichi then looked at the owner when he was asked about his well-being, giving him a small smile before brushing himself off and regaining his composure. “U-Um, Yeah. Thanks.” 

The owner nodded, " Yeah sorry, the lil' bugger loves coming in here, steal some sodas and be on his merry way. But uh, seemed like you two were cuddling. I ain't judging, it never does any good around here to do so. Glad your okay. Need some help?" 

Shuichi had found the kindness and hospitality of the owner to be somewhat reassuring and comforting. The navy haired boy shook his head no, a smile on his face, “ No, I’m okay. I actually should be heading home now, didn’t expect to be held back here this late or at all.” The man nodded and made sure to lock up for the night and even offered to walk him home. 

The day was rather exhausting that once the detective got home and ate a small meal, the bed was practically calling his name. Shuichi had woken up to the soft beam of light coming from his window shining in his eyes and blinding him the moment he woke up. He rolled over in his bed and covered his eyes, waking his brain up softly as he laid on his side. The warmth of his bed was practically sucking him in and begging him to stay this morning, but Shuichi knew this was too important of a day to have thoughts about staying in bed. Plus, if Shuichi had slept in any more he knew Kaito would just pull him out of bed anyway. So, the detective got up out of bed and went on with his morning routine to get ready and then headed downstairs as usual. After Shuichi had awaken and slumped out from the comfort of his sheets, he was met with Kaito making breakfast for once, serving up pancakes and flinging them onto a plate. He even wore a goofy apron, donning his grin as usual. Maki sat at the table, hand to her forehead, slowly soaking up the absurdness that Kaito had put on. The pancakes themselves resembled comets or stars, even rocket ships. It was easy to tell, he was pumped for the night along with most of the quint town. 

Kaede had a big smile on her face as Kaito had cooked breakfast, her hands wrapped around her mug of whatever hot drink she chose to have this morning. She seemed like she was really happy for the event as well, maybe just not expressing it as much as Kaito was. Shuichi had smiled softly when he saw how lively everyone seemed to be this morning, knowing that it was a result of the meteor shower that was happening that night. Even though Shuichi wouldn’t get to see it, it made him happy to see that his friends were happy. The tall spiky haired male caught Shuichi from the corner of his eyes and chuckled, " Hehehe, heeeey! There he is! Mornin' to ya' side-kick! Today is gonna' be one helluva' a day! Well... I mean if uh, you had joined us-but you're doin' somethin' good for someone, so good on ya'! That's the sidekick I know!" He slid a plate over to the detective, " Where ya' two plannin' to stay? Here or uh, there? 

Shuichi had looked at the palate of space-themed pancakes that had been set in front of him before looking up at Kaito and speaking hesitantly, “ Well... I don’t exactly know yet. It’s up to Kokichi on where he wants to be I guess.” 

Kaede looked over to Shuichi with a big smile, “ Well, if you two decide to stay here we have a bunch of movies here that you two can watch! And we went grocery shopping not that long ago so the kitchen should be stocked!” 

Shuichi gave the blonde a soft smile, “ Thanks, Kaede.” 

The quiet girl in red nodded, " Indeed. Also cleaned up the place because someone is a bit of a slob." 

Kaito spun his head over his shoulder, " Hey! I said I was sorry! I was TRYIN' to keep the place as clean as I could!" Maki chuckled under her breath from how Kaito got flustered just by the simple call-out on his behalf. Kaede had giggled when Kaito had gotten so worked up over calling out his behavior and how the trainee had tried to defend himself. Even Shuichi couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, for once a big and genuine smile appearing on his face. 

The morning went by smoothly, Shuichi getting his good-byes from his roommates. However... When he was picked up the patrol car was heading in the opposite direction, not going to the family diner at all. Hajme watched his partner who looked like a lost puppy, " Sorry partner. But we're going to the zoo, quick look around. I'm sure what we're looking for isn't there, then I drive you to the diner and you can go hook up with the purple gremlin." He didn't say the nickname out of spite, but more of just something he always had around in case. 

That... made sense. There wasn’t really any use in going to the diner first thing in the morning when they were just going to go back there later anyway. It’s just that it was so routine to go there first thing, that it sent Shuichi’s internal clock asked just a little bit. However, he nodded to Hajime and replied with a soft, “ That sounds like a good plan.” Before getting his head ready to ask some questions at the zoo. 

They parked to a rather empty lot, due to upcoming festival, so only the trainers were there as other workers took the day off to help with getting the town's center ready. Hajime entered with his partner into the vacant zoo, finally managing to find a worker who Shuichi had met recently. The large gentle giant himself, Gonta humming and opening terrariums in some of the designated rooms. Shuichi had seen Gonta, surprised to see him but not at the same time. Working at the zoo seemed to fit somewhat...Shuichi walked up to the bug lover with Hajime and had greeted him in a kind manner with a soft smile on his face, “ Hi Gonta, it’s nice to see you again.” 

The giant of a man looked over to see no one, but looked down to find Shuichi's face, which in turn made him give a large smile, " Oh! Hello Shuichi! It nice to meet you as well." His eye shifted to Hajime who was just in an irritated mood. 

The brunette pulled out his badge bluntly and extended his other hand for a quick shake, " We're here investigate a possible tiara that was stole-ACK!" 

Gonta had shaken his hand-rather adding a bit more strength due to his massive size. He quickly let go, gasping with a horrified expression of what just occurred, " OH! Gonta is so sorry! Gonta would never hurt anyone! Gonta is trying to be gentleman!" 

Hajime reeled the semi-squashed hand and took in a deep inhale as he waved it, " N-No it's fine. It's fine." 

The large man began to panic, " Gonta go get help!" He jogged off in a brisk, bringing back another face Shuichi had met previously, even if briefly. The scarred man, Gundham made his way over, removing Hajime's watch and applying a cooled cloth in ice. 

As Gundham tried his best to make sure Gonta hadn't broken the hand, Hajime continued where he had gotten cut off, " We need to take a look around. D.I.C.E. has told us a rumor that they hid the tiara here. Though, we won't be able to go into the enclosures, so it'd be nice for some help." 

" Gonta can do that! None of the animals ever bother Gonta! Gonta has good vision!" He said proudly, tapping the side of his rather diminutive glasses. 

Shuichi felt bad for Hajime, the bad mood he seemed to be in and the semi-crushed hand were such a... great pairing. The navy haired detective listened to Gonta as he agreed to help in their search, giving the gentle giant a soft smile and was trying to be polite to the gentleman to compensate for the not so great mood Hajime was in. “ That would be great, thanks Gonta.” With the given word Gonta sprinted off to begin his little treasure hunt, distracting him entirely. He seemed very genuine in helping, not even questioning D.I.C.E., like he hadn't the faintest of a clue about them. 

Hajime gave out a sigh, " I'll start looking as well. I really need to be alone for the moment, sorry partner." He apologized, walking off to settle his thoughts and annoyed emotions. 

Gundham started a walk with Shuichi who he expected to ask him a number of questions, and considering he had never been to the zoo, wouldn't like the detective getting lost and accidentally snooping into something. " So... Hurry up and duel me with your petty questions." Oh boy, this would be fun... 

It seemed like Gundham was prepared for any line of questioning that the detective might throw at him, so Shuichi had decided that it would be best to just go right into it. “ U-Um...” he paused for a moment but then eventually began to speak, “ Can you tell me everything you know about the Madarai brother that was found dead here?” It was the most relevant matter concerning the Zoo, so Shuichi thought it would be a good enough place to start. 

" I am unsure why one would question an event that had happen years ago, but fine, I shall indulge you with the knowledge I have obtained from such a heroic travesty." He folded his arms, smirking, leading the detective to a new path other than a random walk around. " You see, he had been waiting in a densely covered tree that was grown out from the crocodile exhibit of Gustavia. She's around 6 meters, 19 feet in length and weighs about 999 kilograms, so 2202 pounds. The guy must have jumped into the tree to hide, then slipped and fell. Now normally Gustivia is very relaxed. Hell, there's been around 3 times in this zoo's history the children had fallen in the enclosure, she didn't bother to eat them which is highly unnatural, especially for a crocodile of her magnitude. One kid fell in somehow and she started to make a loud sound signaling us, but stayed far from the child. Another time she nudged a child who had passed out from the fall until they woke up, did the same thing then. And one particular event before I worked here, that one kid had fallen in, or rather saying he was pushed into the water. She swam in, carried him to safety. Anyways the point being, she somehow knew this man was the vile scum, under her own pond and took him out. Was there when it happened. I had just fed her and had the door closed. Before I knew it, I heard screaming. I was... Too late to say the least. Gonta, with his impeccable eye-sight, had found a blow-dart laced with poison." 

Shuichi had nodded, listening to all of the details surrounding the incident that had happened three years ago. It sounded like just an unfortunate fall, but the blow dart did seem like a more concerning part of the story... but, Shuichi just took in the details and moved on, “ Do you know anything else about the Madarai brothers?” The navy haired detective asked. 

The taller man shook his head as they both came to a shed of some sort. After entering it with a code, Gundham walked in, ridding of his overflowing scarf and bandages form his arms which hid a collection of scars. Putting long gloves onto them to hide them back up, he went to a large freezer like ice box, pulling out a large chunk of meat, putting it a relatively enormous sink-more like a tub in fact, pouring water on it to help thaw the hunk of meat out. " No, but Hajime had informed me and Gonta. Mainly due to the fact Gonta's hearing may not be as exquisite as Ibuki's but still sharp as a blade that has been slicked. being the ever so presentable gentleman he claims to achieve, inquired information. Afterwards, Gustavia was awarded another medal of saving the populace of this town's residents. The brother was of course planning to kill someone. The only thing that was found out of place was from a torn off foot. Coroners said that a snake had bitten him in the tree... The serpents we keep would have surely been seen by on lookers." 

Shuichi had nodded softly at Gunham’s further explanation of what could have happened to the Madarai brother. “Okay...” he spoke softly, being able to piece together between the supposed snake bite and the poisonous dart that was found at the scene. The detective was too focused on the case at hand to even really mind that the other was just thawing out meat as they talked. Shuichi had figured there was no information he could further get about the Madarai brothers, so he decided to venture off towards a different topic. “ Sorry this is a bit off topic... but is there anything you know about Tengan and how he had managed to gain the amount of power he seems to have in this town?” 

The other gave a cold huff as he picked the chunk of meat up, carrying it out with Shuichi following like a duckling, " The man is a deathly tyrant with the mask of innocence. Me and Gonta had met him when were first in town. Greeted us with high confidence and kindness, but Gonta could distinctly tell how off-key he was. Almost like a sixth sense of some type. Offered a job in the factory. It was not for the faint of heart. Sure the petty pay was good, the workers friendly, but once we stepped into that place, it might as well have been cast into the bowels of Hell. That man does no justice to snakes, hyena nor weasel. Snakes are at the very least strong, stand their own ground, hyenas may be cowardice, but can still hold themselves. Weasels take down much larger prey, they don't always rely on dancing around. His power is exceptional due to what he provides to the town, as if it were a village. The money it turns in is vast and he will sometimes give to charity or the institution. He also helps the police with various things, combating against the Togami Corp." Shuichi nodded, understanding the feeling that Gonta had apparently gotten when he had first met Tengan. The detective might have felt a little bit of that when he had first met Tengan, even more so after he had learned about everything he potentially did. But other than that, he seemed to be a really big part of how the town had gained it’s profit and how is functioned. With the much influence, it wouldn’t be hard to cover anything up that might have happened in the past... or to hire a certain group of brothers to kill certain people. 

When Shuichi didn't have anything to ask and was floating into his thoughts, reality clawed into him, dragging him down in a vice grip as suddenly Gundham had gotten to an enclosure, whistling out, then tossing the large portion of meat over cement fencing foundation, " Gustavia come get some ham!" An enormous crocodile bolted up, shooting out from the murky water below, snatching the flank in one graceful yet forceful grasp, audible bone cracking, and falling into the depths with it's meal. The reptile was the biggest damn thing Shuichi had seen or gotten so close to any animal ever! 

Shuichi widened his eyes when he had saw the large crocodile jump up to grab it’s meal, the sight only slightly off putting. Sure it was amazing to see how big the animal was up person, but imagining that someone was attacked by that... just have been horrifying. The detective was left stunned, blinking softly before speaking out a soft and barely audible, “ W-Wow...” 

The large crocodile rose up to poke her head and her back out before wadding to the shore of the large exhibit to shake her head like a ravenous dog, tearing the meat apart so she could clamp down on smaller bits, toss them into the air and guzzle them down. " Indeed... Never has offered to bite apparently. Won't mess with living things but that guy. She's one of a kind in all honesty... Grabbed him by the leg, dragged him to the shallow end and began death rolling. They were close to putting her down until they found the darts and were able to get an identification of the face." Shuichi listened to how the crocodile actually took one of the brothers down, finding the whole thing slightly bizarre. She had never bit a living person before except for him, was it animal instinct or something? Either way, Shuichi was actually kind of glad that the crocodile didn’t get put down and that the evidence was found... it seemed like it was pretty harmless and gentle to good people. That doesn’t mean killing people is right however... but Gustavia doesn’t know that. Gundham watched the large cold-blooded beast eat her meal in peace, admiring the power and veracity of her before his eyes shifted to the detective, " So, would there be any other questions you would like to throw to me so I may cut your words without hesitation?" 

Shuichi had thought for a moment about any other questions that he could ask Gundham, trying to figure out a good question to ask. Maybe... it was better to be blunt in this kind of situation? The detective wasn’t sure, but had proceeded onward anyway, “ Um... I guess... what can you tell me about Kokichi?” 

Gundham's eyes narrowed like a hawk, ready to snatch an unsuspecting mouse, " ..... Childish, foolish, a bit impudent, mixed with a pinch of mischief and innocence. He is a... Special case, I put lightly under him. Basically acts like a child, but don't be deceived by his charms and little lies, along with his irrationality and fears. He can be quite a handful. He's surprisingly intelligent and cunning, hiding behind many a mask. Once he finds a weak point in you and doesn't like you, he will dig into it, get into your head. He can be rather insightful, but enjoys playing around. There are two particular sides behind the masks. If you ever catch a glint of his internal darkness hidden and walled off by his cowardice childish behavior... Well..." He chuckled in a deeper tone, " You'd best not want to find out. Drawing out that kind of malevolence will only bring out sadistic tendencies, that he will indulge in if left alone. His other side behind the masks is just a child crying out. One who is use to the fell of humanity, letting him become rather submissive and masochistic in a way." That was when he took a step to the other, " And if you so wish as to toy and manipulate that inner part of him, there will be... Consequences..." His voice was angry when he talked, but Shuichi also happened to notice a small twitch of his hand and the crocodile below started to bellow out a low grumble. 

Shuichi felt a shiver go down his spine then Gundham had basically threatened him with a low and slightly aggressive tone of voice, the low grumble of the crocodile seeming to back up his statement. Shuichi had gulped slightly before standing up tall, presenting confidence through his body position and the gleam of determination in his eye. The navy haired detective was standing up for himself, even if it wasn’t a grand event. Most likely because the words from his encounter with the leader last night had changed the way he acted, for the better. “ I can assure you...” He began to speak, “ I wouldn’t ever try to manipulate him. I’ll do my best to support him and help him, no matter what mask he chooses to wear in front of me.” 

Gundham's expression ceased once Shuichi had given his word to him, gaining a subtle, 'Hmph' in reply. This was around the time, Hajime came around who gave a sigh, " Too much ground. I don't want to miss the festival, so... Tell you what Shuichi. We come back here another day. Or send Gonta on this fetch quest." 

The tall and sinister looking male nodded, " Us both and the other zookeepers shall try our best to observe the areas." 

Shuichi looked over to Hajime, regaining his usual demeanor along with a more light-hearted face and nodding softly towards his partner, “ That sounds good.” Shuichi would rather not have the festival start when he wasn’t with Kokichi, after all. It was best to get to the boy as soon as possible...he probably was stressing about the whole thing a lot already. 

Hajime gave his farewell to the zoo keeper who kept his gaze locked on Shuichi in particular and drove them to the homely diner, " Sorry for leaving with that guy. Don't worry too much. He's made up of bluffs and not really a threat of any kind. He just pretends to be more menacing then he really is. Guy's pets are friggen' hamsters for god's sake." he chuckled a bit 

Shuichi had smiled softly in response to Gundham’s description, shaking his head softly, “ It was pretty okay, actually.” He spoke, “ I just asked him a few questions about the zoo and such and got to see the crocodile there pretty up close, so... all in all it was good. Except for the fact that we didn’t find the tiara....” Shuichi paused before quickly adding on, “ B-But I’m almost positive we’ll find it soon!” If the leader of D.I.C.E had kept his word about the wager involving the game, then Shuichi would be given the tiara soon... he hoped. 

" Lord I can only hope or else Haiji is going to start sending all of the department to these places." He groaned, the happy tones suddenly dropping completely as they pulled up into the parking lot which was thin with other cars. It was always pretty empty, but it was nearly non-existent now. Hajime got up and out of the patrol car, walking to the diner, " You ready over there? I mean, i can drive you two wherever you need to go." 

Shuichi had begun to get out of the patrol car and walk along with Hajime towards the diner, giving the other a small look of concern, “ I’m ready, but are you sure you’d be willing to give us a ride...? I-I wouldn’t want to make you be late to the festival or anything, and I know how Kokichi can aggravate you at times...” 

He gave a small yet tired look, " Ehh, it's no real big deal. I'll be too tired to bother listening to him really. Sides, if he can get here without a ride, it means his place is very close by." He yawned much like the constant sleepy girl at the station, walking into the empty diner, waving a hand to Teruteru, " Hey." 

Teruteru looked over at Hajime from the kitchen window, a skeptical look on his face, “ Now, it’s not that often that you of all people would’a missed a morning here. So when you didn’t arrive this mornin’, I thought you skipped out on me or somethin’ for that meteor shower! But now that you’re here, I can only hypothesize you’re just late? Right?” He spoke, Shuichi not being able to figure out if the plump chef was just teasing or if he was being dead serious... 

Hajime put a hand to his face with a smile, " No, no, of course not!" He let out a laugh, it was nice to seem him have a lighter tone in his voice lately. " We were just finishing up some work real quick, don't want to miss the shower, but I'd rather not miss seeing you at all, get a small thing on the way out. And uhhh, besides that, we're here to pick up the little panta demon. He hiding in the back again?" 

Teruteru had nodded in response to Hajime’s question, letting out a soft sigh, “ Yeah... that boy ain’t in the mood to do anything today it seems. If I didn’t send em’ out to serve the customers he’d probably in the back room the whole day...” 

" Right..." Hajime nodded along and walked to the kitchen's door, knocking on them, " Hey, Kokichi, your da-Aherm!" he coughed into his arm, " Your friends' here!" 

Upon pulling away, the door opened, Kokichi leaning out and grinning, " Ohhh~? I have someone expecting me? I don't remember that ever being a thing. is it Rantaro?" Hajime gave a small sigh and a roll of the eyes. Kokichi had dressed up his mask quite quickly to avoid any suspicions, even though Teruteru probably wasn't lying. 

Shuichi had walked up to the kitchen door as well after it was opened by Kokichi, giving the other a soft yet slightly nervous smile before deciding to make casual conversation with the purple haired boy, “ Don’t tell me you forgot our plans for today already, Kokichi?” He spoke with a smile on his face, indicating that he was actually trying to just play around a little... in his own shy and awkward way. 

Kokichi gave a small teasing glare as if to say, 'oh, you little sneaky little bitch, I see what you did there'. He hopped out from the kitchen's threshold and smiled, " Me?! Forget something like that?! Oh you wound me!" He feigned an arm to his forehead to over dramatize himself. 

" Alright, aright, the both of you, come on. Teruteru, need a drive to the festival? I know you like showing off your chef skills to people." 

Teruteru looked at Hajime with a big grin on his face before nodding enthusiastically, “ That would be much appreciated, thank ya’ Hajime! Just let me pack me special knifes here real quick...” Teruteru went back into the kitchen for a couple moments. 

Hajime gave a small chuckle and smile, " Sure thing... God it better not be the bone on the meat one." He shook his head while the brown locks followed. 

Shuichi then looked back over to Kokichi, scooting closer to he was standing in front of him more before speaking, “ So... where do you want to go?” He asked, “ Anywhere is fine with me.” 

Kokichi cocked his head, " Wow, and here I thought detectives knew more things than not... Hmm, maybe your place? I mean, really, do you want to deal with all of my roomies and cramped up apartment when they get back? No, didn't think so~." He spoke up for him, following a coy smile. 

Shuichi had nodded softly, Kokichi’s logic making complete sense. There was no guarantee that his roommates wouldn’t make a ruckus when they got home as well, but at least he didn’t have as many roommates as Kokichi had. “ That’s a good idea. Didn’t really think of it that way.” The navy haired detective spoke to the purple haired trouble maker, a small smile on his face. 

It was at that moment the pudgy chef had come out of the kitchen with his knife case, full of a chef’s most prized possessions. Their knives. Low and behold, a small piece of what appeared to be the end of a bone was sticking out at the end of the case, “ Well, you know I can’t just go anywhere without bringin’ this lucky skewer with me! Anyway, I’m ready and rarin’ to go!” 

Hajime backed away, " Annnnnnd there it is. Good god, be careful with that thing, last time you messed with it last time at the cook-off at the mall you almost skewered Togami's brother... And nearly punctured Komadea's hand, I guess..." His eyes shifted to avoid anyone's gaze in that lowly comment. 

" Nishsishi, it was funny though!" He giggled at Hajime's recalling of last year before grabbing his backpack with the bear's head poking out, watching the other three. " And that detective, is why I always have plenty of back up information on those who need it~!" 

Hajime groaned, " Enough gloating, let's get going." He muttered out, opening the locks of the cars for them all. Shuichi had made his way out to the patrol car with the rest of them, deciding to sit in the back or the car with Kokichi. Everyone would get along better that way, right? So Teruteru could just sit up front with Hajime, and Kokichi would be occupied enough sitting next to him that he would give Hajime a break... at least the detective hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Kokichi, the whole vampire question out of the blue was honestly a bit of all three but mainly 1 and 3 of the suggestions Shuichi could think of.  
> He doesn't know how to anger properly due to past issues and distracts himself from going overboard.
> 
> Gustavia's original name was Gustavtina all for the reference of Napoleon Dynamite, but Gustavia sounds better.  
> She is based off of a real man-eater, Gustave, that has rumored to have killed 300 people,  
> And yes I know very well, crocodiles would not save anyone, but this is anime bullshit, so fuck realism, I like crocs better. Her heroic behavior is inspired by two real events. Unfortunately no croc has saved a human, but there are people who saved crocs, and the crocs devolve a friendship with that person.
> 
> ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three female lions who apparently had chased off her captors.  
> and  
> Binti Jua - Gorilla Carries 3-Year-Old Boy to Safety in 1996 Incident. An 8-year-old gorilla named Binti Jua made worldwide headlines when she carried a boy to safety after he slipped away from his mother and climbed through a barrier at the Western Lowland Gorilla Pit at the Brookfield Zoo on Aug. 19, 1996.  
> And...  
>  **I swear if someone mentions Harambe I am not going to be a happy camper... Get your memes out of here unless they are wholesome**


	36. When You Love, You're Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to switch this story's rating to what it originally was!  
> Also, super long because I couldn't find a place to cut it into two.  
>  **Important notes after chap!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ptth, this was around the time Moonstone was replaying V3 - ((AAAA I FINISHED REPLAYING THE 4TH TRIAL IN V3 AND GOT TO THE END OF IT AND REALIZED THE THING THAT SHUICHI SAYS IN THE GAME IS WHAT KOKICHI IS TOLD IN THE STORY IN HERE AAAAAA ;;;-;;;. As if I weren’t crying enough ;;u;; )) 
> 
> Kokichi is soft and warm like mash potatoes
> 
> But feels aside, do you know what pineapples do?  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwUEVF2G95M&list=PLRQGRBgN_EnqR2L0BYORoMoJgMxSTIWTB&index=2  
> 9:30-10:20

Hajime had waved goodbye along with his cooking friend once the two were dropped off. While Shuichi was done waving, Kokichi was already gone, leaving the door open. God he really was like a child. Inside, Kokichi still held his mask up as he sat on the couch in the den, safe to say it was because light was still outside. It'd be another hour or so until it sipped into night. " So... Whatcha' got planned? I can't think of everything for you, ya' know~." 

Shuichi had gone inside, shutting the door behind him and following Shuichi over to where he was sitting on the couch. “ Well... I know we have some movies we could watch here. If that sounds okay with you?” He asked, making sure that Kokichi was comfortable and settled in for the night his top priority at the moment. 

Kokichi stroked his chin with the small band-aid attending onto his finger from a few days earlier, " Hrmmm.. Yeah sure, I could do that. You had better have some popcorn and soda." He snickered under his grin. " Considering I'm the guest, you get to go fetch them, nishishi." 

Shuichi had sighed softly when Kokichi had insisted that he would go get them, having not expected anything less off the purple haired trouble maker. “ How about you find a movie to watch while I’m getting those things then?” Shuichi asked before heading into the kitchen to grab what Kokichi had requested for. 

When coming back to the little imp with the refreshments and bowel, Shuichi heard some talking. When peeking out from the entrance to the room, he saw Kokichi had started up a movie, putting it on pause, but the noise came from Kokichi himself who held up his beloved bear, " I-I don't know about this... Are you sure? ... Do you think I'll-right, how stupid of me... Of course I wouldn't be able to... Yeah, I guess it'll help distract me... D-Do you really think that it's just that? ... Ah, then he'll get over me... Shame, I really like him... I know, I know... No, I don't doubt you, if I had, I wouldn't be here. I'm just unsure if this'll be it, he said he'd stay..... Yeah... Yeah, everybody goes away in the end..." 

What was Kokichi talking to that stuffed bear about...? He knew it had to be some kind of coping mechanism, but talking about Shuichi leaving somehow? Was something going to happen? Well... whatever it was, Shuichi said he wouldn’t leave. He was going to keep that promise, no matter what happened tonight. So, as to not startle Kokichi, Shuichi wanted to alert the other of his presence but not know that he had been listening in the whole time... So, Shuichi did the most believable thing. He simply walked backwards for a second then walked forward, ‘accidentally’ stubbing his toe in the entry way and making a soft noise to alert Kokichi that he was coming back into a room. It didn’t actually hurt all that much, but Shuichi seethed in pain softly for a moment to make it believable before walking back into the room with the refreshments and the bowl of popcorn. 

Kokichi had quickly packed his toy back into the backpack and perked up, looking to Shuichi, " Whoa, that sounded like it hurt! You should really be more careful, geez! I'd ask how you're doing, buuuut, there's such a thing as tough love, nishshi~!" The gremlin pushed the pack away, making room for the detective, " Already found a movie, no need to thank me... I mean, unless you want to, I won't deny how great of a guest I am. Oh right, annnnnd, I brought along something to eat, since I'm sure we both haven't eaten, including, fruit~!"He grinned, taking two bento boxes out and a container with different fruits, a bit heavy on the pineapples, but still a variety none the less. 

Shuichi had looked at the bento boxes that Kokichi had gotten the both of them. He was surprised, in a good way of course, that Kokichi would bring that here with him. There was another thing he and the leader of D.I.C.E had in common... giving Shuichi food to eat? That was kind of a stretch. But, anyway, the gesture alone was enough to make Shuichi smile happily, “ Thank you, Kokichi.” 

" Nishishi, don't need you wasting away on me, and besides, 'mom' will get all uppity." He put his fingers up to emphasize on the quote of mom, referring to one of his roomies. Afterwards he started the movie up and actually kept quiet to eat his food, but to drown himself into the film as night started to rise upon the town. Shuichi had watched the movie with Kokichi, eating the food that he was given by the other. But, his whole time wasn’t spent on watching the movie. He occasionally glanced over towards Kokichi as night began to creep into the sky, wondering at what point Kokichi’s masks would begin to falter... it seemed like he was doing okay, but it had to happen eventually... right? 

Kokichi stayed fairly quiet, only talking about the movie every now and then. When putting in another one, his words came out in a stutter so often, so he became more quiet. He would glance to his bear, it's red eye looking out from the bag to him, making him tremble a bit. After a gulp and halfway into the film, he scooted closer until their legs bumped up against each other, " A-Ahaha, whoops, sorry! Was just trying to get some more popcorn." He gave nervous smile, grabbing a considerably small handful. 

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi, noticing the nervous smile on his face and the small handful of popcorn he had grabbed from the bowl. This was one of the lies that Shuichi could see through... Kokichi was starting to get nervous, so he was scooting closer. The detective looked over at him, deciding to be straightforward about it, “ You know... if you want to um... g-get closer... you can.” He spoke shyly, knowing it was to comfort Kokichi but still saying it out loud was more than a little embarrassing. 

The slightly younger boy nodded, " T-Thanks..." His voice was a bit more softer now. His hand grabbed hold of the detective's gently before gripping onto it like he was being shoved into somewhere horrible, mind stretching out from trying to focus on the movie at hand, and dealing with the ever growing paranoia. Only after was when they heard a distant whistling sound go above their heads, far away to not crash into the house, but sure close enough to hear, much like an airplane going by overhead. Shuichi had firmly held onto Kokichi’s hand once he had heard the whistling sound coming from outside of the house, realizing the shower must have started already... he looked over towards the purple haired boy to make sure he was still more on the okay side of things. Unfortunately he looked rather pale, his grip frozen in Shuichi's hand. 

A quick quiver trailed throughout his body and he snapped his eyes close, breathing in and out to calm his body which was behaving to it's own accord. He took in one final deep inhale and then took the reigns of his entire body to quickly turn and plant himself on Shuichi's lap. However he didn't cling like he had before, but instead gave the other a quick, inexperienced kiss. Shuichi’s face had begun to turn a bright red when Kokichi had suddenly given him a quick kiss while sitting on his lap, his arms raised slightly from not knowing what to do in this situation or even where to rest them. He was just... very awkward in situations like this, fueling his embarrassment and the blush on his face even more. Kokichi backed away as he witnessed Shuichi's face become flustered an his hands spacing up a bit. The purple haired boy shrank down a bit in guilt and instead hugged onto him, hiding his face away so the other wouldn't see Kokichi internally thinking he had fucked up. 

Shuichi had looked down at Kokichi when he had hugged onto him, watching as the other had hid his face. A guilt arose up in Shuichi, knowing that the other probably felt embarrassed at the moment... he didn’t really want to make him feel that way, he just wasn’t used to this kind of things! Shuichi took a deep breath before placing arm around Kokichi, using the other hand to pet the his head softly and trail his fingers down to Kokichi’s chin so he could lift the other’s head up gently and give him a soft and inexperienced kiss back. Kokichi had clung onto Shuichi more when he felt the soft pats, bracing for something unpleasant to happen. But once his chin was lifted up and had the kiss return to him, his eye widened, expecting that he had royally messed up everything. His eyes hazily lowered down along with his entire body and heart rate. It was at this moment, Shuichi recalled on particular dream. Kokichi tried to make himself seem as someone who was in control, but in actuality, he was as nervous and embarrassed as the detective. Putting two and two together came out with the solution that Kokichi was trying to be the confident one. 

Once Shuichi had felt the other relax as a result of the kiss and after deducing that Kokichi was trying to be the confident one in this situation, he had finally realized what the conversation with Monokuma had actually meant. Is that what Kokichi had really thought about this whole thing...? The detective had placed his forehead gently against the other’s forehead before pulling away from the kiss only slightly so their lips were just barely touching. Gathering up his pride, which was easier when knowing it was for Kokichi, he began to speak, “ I-I love you, Kokichi...” He spoke softly, a bright blush on his face. “ A-And I‘ll never go away, no matter what...” 

The purple haired boy twitched under his soft grasp, tears starting to form up as more whistling came from up above. He was now trebling from all the emotion dwelling up inside, fear of being lied to, fear of the overhead meteors, fear of being alone, fear that all of this was fake. He had failed at being in control yet again, and crashed even more into those feelings as Shuichi spoke up. " ..... I don't need love. Love makes people do stupid things. Love makes you get hurt. Love tears into you when it's suddenly taken away. Just..." He sighed, " Just let me know it's all fake, it's all a lie, you can't fool me. You can hate me, it's less painful that way. Please just hate me like the rest or something, I don't care. Just stop l-lying. I-I-" He gulped, " I know l-liars." So that was the reason he made himself so unpleasant to be around... He just didn't want to get hurt. 

Shuichi hated seeing Kokichi broken like this in front of him, but he knew that it was a part of Kokichi now and that a process to help heal would take a long time to accomplish and would never be fully completed. But there needed to be a place to start as well. Shuichi had spoken up again, keeping himself close to Kokichi and embracing him gently, “ I’m not lying to you, Kokichi.” He spoke softly, a pained strain in his voice as he spoke, “ I love you... and I’ll kept saying it over and over again, day after day, until you believe me. I’ll keep staying with you, I’ll keep comforting you, protecting you no matter what... until you finally accept it as the truth. And even after you accept it... I-I’ll still love you.” The lilac eyes focused on Shuichi's amber colored ones, emotions and thoughts whirling inside him violently. He looked so confused and scared, tears filling up as he truly wanted to accept the words. So unsure what to do, what to feel, what to choose, all because this part of him was still trapped behind some ideal people had implemented. His outer shell went off to pick his own choices, but could only handle so much until it cracked and let the inside peek out. Deep inside was a child who had been shown and told that he wasn't in control, and never truly would. Not being able to choose, and yet Shuichi was letting him. He didn't know how to say, 'how can I trust you?'. He was taught and derived from such a question. So instead he just went with it and see if it'd be true or not. It was what he was use to when his exterior masks were broken, to just give up. 

Shuichi looked down at Kokichi, being able to tell that his emotions and thoughts were going at a mile a minute. Instead of saying more to potentially confuse the other further, Shuichi had just opted to try and comfort him and physically be there instead. The navy haired boy had wrapped his arms around the other in a gentle manner, holding the other close to him and giving him a soft kiss on top of his head. Until Kokichi could make the choice for himself and express his decision, Shuichi would be there with him no matter what. Kokichi shivered heavily from the touch of Shuichi's arms. This is what the thief had done as well, and Kokichi wasn't in full shut down mode, which was good-but... This raised some questions. The foxy leader gave small shudders from hugs, like the had much more confidence. Kokichi, when shut down and letting his bear speak for him didn't react at all, not accounting any type of touch, as if he wasn't even in his own head and projected himself into the toy. But upon cognitive thought, he trembled harshly. Kokichi nestled into him, nuzzling up against the crevice of Shuichi's neck and shoulder, seeking more affection... He was slowly letting himself open up and it was a shitty idea. But Shuichi could take this chance to see the sides of Kokichi under is shirt as he recalled Eddy telling him about the spikes that would protrude out of the rabbit for Daisachi. 

He definitely could be able to see what was under Kokichi’s shirt, but he would have to do it in a way where the other wouldn’t get defensive about the whole thing. Kokichi was just starting to get comfortable and relax again, and Shuichi didn’t want to ruin that for him even if it did mean getting closer to the truth. So, Shuichi had held onto Kokichi as he nestled into him his hands traveling down to more of Kokichi’s waist-area while planting another kiss to the side of his head. From what the detective could tell that Kokichi's intense up in mood crashed down until he was nothing more than mashed potatoes... Or better put, a sugar crash or a small toddler being hyper and flopping over into a nap. Kokichi's mood was slowly going back up from it's crash of relaxing. His arms moved up and rested around Shuichi's upper torso, getting more situated and relaxed as he was poking out into the option of trusting the other, still testing the waters. 

Shuichi had kept holding onto Kokichi while he was coming back from his emotional crash however, letting the other put his arms wherever he wanted if it made him feel comfortable. Shuichi wanted to make the other as comfortable as possible for the time being, knowing that the shower and his emotions might catch up to him again at any moment. To try and show the other affection, besides just holding onto him, the navy haired detective had begun to draw circles with his hand and his fingers on the other’s back. He didn’t know if this would actually have a comforting affect on Kokichi or not, but it was worth a try... Kokichi settled down in the comfort of Shuichi's presence. Him just being there made the trouble maker relax and fall into a lull of safety and security. Kokichi made small noises when his back was touched but soon got over it, finding it soothing. The purple haired boy finally got some clarity back and lets his arms let go so he could wrap them around the other's neck, pulling him into a simple kiss. Some of his mind was still in a fog, desperately wanting to shut himself in and have any type of distraction to keep him from thinking about the event outside. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes just slightly when he was kissed, but this time being different from the previous attempt at a kiss that Kokichi had done. The navy haired detective leaned into the kiss and returned it, keeping his arms wrapped around Kokichi and holding him close. He had felt much more comfortable with this kiss than the one that Kokichi had started before, most likely because Kokichi’s relaxed state had caused him to relax slightly as well. Kokichi, still with small things buzzing around his head caused by fear made him want to shut out more, this in turn making the shorter boy go into another manner. He was constantly told for a few years that he would never have any impulse to certain things, but knew it could be a good distraction, so he tried it. Kokichi pulled back from the kiss and began fussing with the connection of Shuichi's neck and shoulder, kissing the skin and sucking on it. It kept his mind busy, but he'd stop if the other didn't enjoy it. Shuichi had stiffened up slightly when the other had started to take it into a different direction, his breath hitching in his throat softly and a bright blush rising to his face. But, a couple of seconds later he had relaxed more into the feeling while gripping onto Kokichi’s shirt softly. Shuichi... definitely didn’t hate the feeling... 

It didn't effect Kokichi like he thought it would, but soon feeling Shuichi calm down and hearing him, made him a bit better. His cheeks growing some color while nimble hands shakily lowered away from the back of his neck and to the front, carefully and slowly unbuttoning the very top button of his shirt. Kokichi gulped a bit and lowered himself down to do the same to the lower portion of the detective's collar bone. This was definitely not the confident mask Kokichi wore at all, but was carefully picking the pieces back up. Shuichi had looked down at Kokichi when the top button of his shirt, getting caught off guard when his collar bone was getting the same treatment that his neck had gotten. The detective let out a sharp inhale once the feeling had hit him, looking off to the side out of embarrassment as his arms remained around the other. However Shuichi didn’t stiffen up this time as a reaction, most likely because he was getting more comfortable with the feeling. 

The slightly younger of the two didn't really know the sign of keep going or not. He had only been able to go to one class on the matter before his mother took him out. In fact... Most of the information he had learned was from Miu, Teruteru, and a few other of his roomies. That and accidentally catching Leon and Miu watch some rather explicit things. Honestly he had no idea what the fuck he was doing, if Shuichi really did like him, he din't want to act like some thirsty bitch like Miu and mess it all up. But the movie wasn't holding his attention anymore. So Kokichi moved back up to kiss the other again. He bashfully and slowly started to unbutton more of the shirt, while Shuichi was distracted. The idea to distract Shuichi with a kiss had worked to a point, the navy haired detective leaning into the kiss again and fluttering his eyes shut before noticing what the other was doing to his shirt. Shuichi hadn’t been one to really think about these kinds of things often, besides that one dream he had gotten more recently, but other than that he really only ever heard about things like this was from mandatory classes in grade school. Heck, even when the mystery novels he read sometimes had that sort of content in them he just skipped that chapter... So, he didn’t really know how to react to all of this. He also didn’t want to push any boundaries the other night have. Instead of opting for something more bold Shuichi instead had just moved his hands down from their position on Kokichi’s back and had started to fiddle with the bottom of the other’s shirt, the tips of his fingers sliding underneath and gently grazing the purple haired boy’s skin. 

Kokichi pulled back to gain some breath, going back to giving the side of Shuichi's neck attention with faint kisses, and the occasional suck to leave a hickey. When he felt the finger tips run over his skin, he only tensed up for a fraction of a second this time, his cheeks feeling warmer, the detective clearly feeling the warmth radiate from the blush against him. What was startling to say the least in Shuchi's case was what he felt under the shirt... Besides small goosebumps building up, he felt a different texture of skin, one much smoother and jagged when it met the skin. It was still skin, but something about it was off... Thankfully Kokichi didn't seem to mind for the moment or at all. Shuichi’s attention had went to the feeling of Kokichi’s skin under his fingers, to wanting to know more about it. So, while tilting his head to the side softly to allow more space for Kokichi to access his neck, the detective’s fingers began to glide across the purple haired boy’s skin. Moving from the lower part of his back, to his hips, and up his sides a little bit to try and confirm what was hiding under his shirt. But, Shuichi had tried to keep it as inconspicuous as possible, playing it off as just rubbing Kokichi’s torso under his shirt...which was a little embarrassing to say the least, but he could get over it. 

Kokichi, unbeknownst relaxed from the soft touched and began to lap at Shuichi's neck from the now given accesses, thinking it was more of an invitation than him trying to get a look to confirm something. His eyes closed and slowly went to auto-pilot, instinct and what he had learned taking over, telling him to unbutton the rest of the thin striped shirt and boldly stroke the other's chest. For Shuichi, Kokichi's shirt tagged along when he moved the hands up, showing what he had just felt, and was still feeling. Segmented scars trickled up Kokichi's sides and a crude scar here and there n his back. Each was pretty spaced out and it was easy to say that there were many more on his back and other side. 

Shuichi had gotten a good look at the scars that seemed to litter Kokichi’s body, knowing that he must have got them from the rabbit that was sent... if anything connected Kokichi and Daisachi more, it would be the scars. However, Shuichi’s mind was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt the other’s hand stroking his chest and his tongue dragging against his neck. The feeling dragging him out of his thoughts was enough to make the detective gasp softly, shuddering pleasantly under his touch and his hands shooting up Kokichi’s back softly while taking the shirt the other was wearing up with them. 

Thankfully Kokichi's thoughts were clouded up by the blue haired boy's subtle gasps and chills running under him, making him in turn continue roaming Shuichi's chest, and even lowering to his hips. He was taking in everything and took it in stride, as if to tell those in the past to go screw off, showing he could do something like this. Facing inner thoughts and demons that told him he wouldn't be able to derive from any pleasure. As the shirt began to lift more, Shuichi even with his shivers was able to see more scars on the side and many more scars on the other's back. If he wasn't a detective, he wouldn't have noticed those were particular... Those were burn scars, from cigarettes or cigars of some sort. 

Shuichi had noticed the scars that were littered across the other’s back, wondering where he could have gotten these cigarette burns from... Kokichi’s skin was like a tapestry of scars that illustrated his horrible past, and every type of scar told a different story... The detectives hands had eventually roamed up as far as the purple haired boy’s shirt would let him, so in the heat of the moment he had decided to simply slide the shirt off and over Kokichi’s head as quickly but as gently as possible. He then slid it down his arms, interrupting Kokichi’s hands from roaming around his body for just a second before placing the shirt off to the side on the couch. 

When interrupted, Kokichi's daze of loosing himself rushed back into him, like everything that was spilling out of a jar to just suddenly reverse back into it's given shape. The purple haired boy quickly shifted back with wide and frightened eyes. He did his best to bring up his arms to cover his lithe and fragile looking body, only to then remember several more scars on his arms. Though they were clean slices, they weren't located at the wrist. So at the very least he wasn't a cutter. When Kokichi had recalled his arms, he swiftly moved them behind his back... Again, it didn't work to his gain as faint scarring had riddled the front side of his torso. They weren't as bold as the others, and were much smaller, like those from a couple of fist fights. All of this didn't help the case of how skinny he looked. He wasn't quite anorexic , but still rather thin. 

Shuichi had seen everything that his shirt had been trying to hide, including the frightened expression that was on his face. The detective spent a couple of seconds just looking at the amount of scars on the other’s body and being able to identify what had caused them rather easily. He didn’t stare for too long however, not wanting to make Kokichi uncomfortable. So, Shuichi wrapped his arms around Kokichi once again and pulled him close with a a gentle touch. He planted his lips against the other’s neck gently before leaning up and speaking into his ear, “ You don’t have to hide them from me... it doesn’t make me love you or thing of you any less.” Sure the scars were concerning to Shuichi, and how underweight he looked, but the statement was completely true. 

Kokichi, still in a vulnerable state from just recovering from the emotional crash of the masks around him breaking, the meteors, and having see the horrible state of his body made him crack down again. No wonder he put so many masks up to shield him, he was one of the most crushed people the detective had ever come to know. The un-eased male rested his chin on the crook of Shuichi's neck and shoulder when being held. The hands which had been yearning for touch side off to the side as tears started to drop onto Shuichi's shoulder. " ... You're the first to look past them. Everyone sees them and think somethings wrong with me, or they pity me... I get to see how damn broken I am everyday." Too many emotions were building up again, which was a given with Kokichi's mind set. He was made up of either too much emotion, or not enough, most hiding behind fake ones. 

Shuichi had held onto the smaller boy as he felt tears drop onto his shoulder, his grip firm yet gentle. He could tell that Kokichi’s emotions were spiking up again, so he did the best that he could to try and calm him down in this situation. Shuichi had begun to move his hand in circles around Kokichi’s back again to try and soothe him, using the other arm to keep him close. “I don’t think of you differently after seeing them... your scars don’t define who you are. At least not to me...” 

Kokichi began to slowly unwind again from the touch that wanted nothing more than to make him relax. Again, testing the waters, not entirely sure if everything was a lie, the smaller boy's limp arms moved on their own to pull their owner even closer, mind ushering out to him. Kokichi took in a deep breath and finally caved in as he nestled up in comfort, wanting to finally be accepted, " ... I-I... I... I love you Shuichi." Once those words were uttered, happiness whirled over Shuichi, one, due to the fact that Kokichi was finally giving in to admit it after such an arduous battle of conflicting emotions. And two-Holy crap, he finally said his name. For hours on end, any day he had met the shy boy, it was always 'Mister Detective'. 

Shuichi was stunned for a moment as he held onto the other, the words that were spoken to him echoing through his mind and sending waves of relief and happiness through his thoughts. In the next moment, the navy haired boy had wrapped his arms around Kokichi more securely before bringing him as close as possible before planting a soft kiss to the top of his head with a soft blush on his cheeks. A happy smile was brightly shining on his lips as he mumbled softly, “ I love you too, Kokichi...” 

The tender moment didn't last long as the whistling out the house came around more frequently, being held in one place made the trickster anxious even if he was being held. He enjoyed were he was, but the sound and thoughts crept up into his mind. He pried himself f from Shuichi and grabbed his bag and shirt then sprinted off into the hallway and up the stairs. What was that about? Why head upwards? There would just be more noise! Shuichi looked at Kokichi as he dashed into the hallway and up the stairs with complete confusion, wondering what the other was doing. Well, he very well couldn’t just let the other run off by himself. So, the navy haired detective had stood up off the couch and quickly hurried after the boy that had sprinted out of the room, “ K-Kokichi!” He shouted after him, “ Wait up!” 

As soon as Shuichi reached the top of the stairs, he noticed his room's door close. What was the little imp playing at now? Or was he scared? It was hard to say as the detective opened the door, taking a cautionary step inside. Kokichi was nowhere to be found, the window was sealed and yet his bag was placed beside the bed. As he inquired to see if the other had hid under the bed and checked, Shuichi heard the door shut behind him with Kokichi grinning, " Fooled ya~!" 

Shuichi’s head had whipped towards the door that had just shut, seeing Kokichi there had made him sign out softly. At least Kokichi had seemed to become a little more stable again... either that or he had just managed to put a mask back on again. Or both. He gave the other a soft smile as he stood up from checking under his bed, “ Yeah, I guess you did.” Another whistle shrieked by overhead, Shuichi getting the glimpse of a brief twitch falter against the presumable mask. Instinct, pressure, paranoia, fear, and the aggravation of much needed distraction sloshed around in Kokichi's head. Though the detective couldn't see all the emotions and thoughts, he was caught off from any examination as Kokichi walked over to him and pushed him to sit on the edge of the be suddenly and again hopped up onto his lap with a devious grin. Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when Kokichi had pushed him down and sat in his lap, using his hands behind his back to prop him up and keep him upright while looking up at the other. A light brush had spread across his face as he looked at Kokichi, the devious grin on the other’s face making a feeling of nervousness pool in his chest. 

" Oh calm down Mister detective, no need to get all flustered~. I mean nishishi, you did say you loved me right?" Yup, a confident mask had been built back up while Kokichi was resting downstairs. The purple haired boy got off momentarily to position himself to get on his knees pinning in Shuichi's legs. He caressed the other's face, cupping Shuichi's cheeks and pulled him into relatively gentle kiss. Shuichi had leaned into the kiss fairly easily, relaxing into it with a blush spreading across his face that radiated warmth onto the hands that were caressing his face. Well until Kokichi bit the bottom his lip, causing the detective’s body stiffen up and also caused him to get more flustered with his face heating up more. But, the tense-ness didn’t last long because after a couple of seconds the detective had relaxed back into the kiss. 

Kokichi let some untapped potential out, instinct leading him on and guiding him to slip his tongue into the kiss while his hands jittered carefully down to open the last button from Shuichi's shirt. His hands roamed around his chest like he had before, getting back into the rhythm that was cut off shortly ago. Kokichi's eyes lazily came down to a half-lidded state, cheek equally blossoming into red. Shuichi had shuddered just slightly from the touch that came from the other, not completely used to it, while moving his hands from back behind him to Kokichi’s waist. His hands had slowly begun to slide up and down his sides, fingers trailing against the outline of his hips then back down to just above the waistband of his pants. He had closed his eyes gently as he had slid his tongue into the kiss to match the pace that was being set, getting more into the motions as things progressed further. 

Kokichi made a small noise into the kiss when his sides were stroked down, the scarring making him a tad more sensitive to the touch. He strayed away from Shuichi's mouth to pant slightly before his hands left the other and went to untie his scarf, tossing it aside. With some confidence of the new developed and a freshly molded mask, along side with Shuichi not giving a second look at his body made his cheeks go a darker shade of red. Still following along any out of world guide line, the trickster moved in to the crook of Shuichi's neck, starting to trail down peppering him with kisses and licks, and the occasional nip. Shuichi had gripped onto Kokichi’s sides with more of a firmer grip when he had felt his mouth playing with the skin on his neck, letting out a soft and embarrassing noise at the sensation which made his cheeks heat up even more. But, to try and distract from the fact that he had made a noise, he had let go of Kokichi’s sides for a moment to slide his unbuttoned shirt off of his arms and tossed it off to the side. His hands then returned to the other’s sides, this time stroking down further to where his waist met his legs and rubbing along the outside of his thighs. 

The purple headed boy shuddered from the sudden touch around his legs, making him give off another noise. It wasn't as embarrassing sounding as the detective's, more of a warning growl due to the fact he wasn't use to people touching him yet. He resorted to a sharp bite to Shuichi's rib, hands lugged along the other's back, following Kokichi as he started to slink away from Shuichi's grasp. He was beginning to slip away and out from being held, but not in the type of mood of wanting him to stop or he'd more than likely would have stopped. Shuichi had flinched softly in response to the sharp bite to his rib, seething out in pain for a split second. He moved his hands back up to the other’s sides again, taking both the warning sound that had come from him and the fact that he had just been bitten. Though, he didn’t scold the other for doing this, just retracted to something he knew that he had liked before. Which, in this case, was just moving his hands along Kokichi’s sides. 

The other moved away from any of hands on him, though not aggressively, more of just slipping away even if Shuichi tried following him. The panta imp's hands slide from Shuichi's lower back to his waistline and began to feverishly fumble to open up his pants, mask still up to give off the expression he needed to not look like he didn't know what he was doing-or well more flustered than ever before. His face didn't show it, but the shake of his hands sure did as they unzipped the pants that matched the same color as Shuichi's tossed aside shirt. Shuichi had watched the other’s hands fumbling while trying to open up his pants, being able to tell from the shaking of the hands that he had was maybe just as flustered and clueless that he was... It made the detective feel bad of course, but he was also glad that he seemed to be just as nervous. Even if Kokichi’s face didn’t exactly show it. Shuichi had kept his hands away from Kokichi, knowing that he had probably moved away from his hands for a reason. So, they were just resting and pressing down against the bed. 

Kokichi gave out an audible gulp, eyes avoiding the other's, rebuilding the mask that was starting to crack and cave in on him. He inhaled sharply before quivering hands tugged Shuichi's pants down a bit, soon his boxers following along. Kokichi's eyes shifted up to Shuichi, unsure if he'd be okay with this or too flustered to go through with what the shorter boy was planning, red glowing prominently on his cheeks. The navy haired detective’s face had a bright red glow traveling up to the tips of his ears, the realization of what Kokichi was doing hitting him like an arrow piercing through his heart and forcing it to beat at a mile a minute. Sure he was flustered and embarrassed over this, but it didn’t mean that it was so bad he couldn’t go on with it. So when the shorter of the two had looked up at Shuichi to check on him, he had looked back down at him and gave him a small and embarrassed nod of consent. 

The detective could feel how much Kokichi's hands were trembling, obviously having no experience-then again neither did he, so it was fair game. Kokichi somehow mentally calmed himself down and did a taste test, giving a few licks to Shuichi's tip before adjusting to the odd taste and putting his mouth around it. His mind fogged up as he hazily began to take in Shuichi inch by inch, still unsure how to do this. Miu's talk made it seem so easy... It was very nerve-racking in all honesty. Shuichi’s breath had gotten caught in his throat as the sensations that Kokichi was bringing on made him tense up slightly as the other’s mouth slowly had taken him in more and more. His breaths had began to get heavy, his hands gripping onto the bed-sheets before involuntarily letting out a soft erotic noise of pleasure. A wave of embarrassment had flooded over him before he lifted one of his hands to cover his mouth again, thoroughly flustered by what had just slipped out of his mouth. 

Kokichi on the other hand got use to the taste and texture that was in his mouth, stopping for a moment to somewhat giggled even with his mouth full. It was hard to say how the hell Kokichi was able to keep this up and didn't gag as he started to relax again and close his eyes, sucking on the detective, tongue exploring around. If Shuichi's brain and heart weren't sputtering out, it was a tale-tell that the boy on his knees on the floor below him didn't have a proper gag reflex. This was one of those rare moments where Shuichi would be so overwhelmed by something else he couldn’t even begin to think properly. If his mind had begun to question anything or wander off on any train of thought, it was immediately pulled back by the feeling that Kokichi’s mouth and tongue were creating. This made it pretty hard to focus on the sounds he was creating and trying to keep them at bay, the occasional whimper of pleasure or soft moan escaping his lips and reverberating through his fingers. 

Kokichi kept his pace, breathing through his nose while his hands began to massage Shuichi's thighs. His tongue swirled around him and kept at it, not really knowing when to stop, but knowing he should keep going, especially with the elicit and soft moans that escaped from Shuichi's mouth. His cheeks grew warm as he kept focus on pleasuring the detective, eventually getting so use to the the feeling that he started to hum out, sending a newer feeling to the other boy. Shuichi gripped onto the bed-sheets tighter when Kokichi had began to hum, a shudder going through his body as the feeling had caused his toes and the fingers that were either clasped around his mouth or that were gripping onto the sheets to twitch softly. His breath had turned into a light pant into his fingers, small sounds escaping along with his breaths. It was then the lower part of Shuichi’s abdomen had began to grow with a warm numbness and tingle that spread down his thighs and up the pit of his stomach. Spreading his fingers apart, the navy haired boy had barely managed to get out, “ K-Kokichi, I-I’m-“ before he was interrupted by an impulsive elicit sound escaping his mouth again. 

Kokichi got a rather decent amount of sudden warmth in his mouth, almost seemingly to gag just slightly, but unknowingly gulped it down, not knowing what else to do. Well that, and he'd rather not have Shuichi have to clean up some mess on his floor. The purple haired whined out as he swallowed the sudden taste that came into his mouth, noting what Miu and Leon had joked about and that pineapples tasted well with the mixture. Kokichi let loose of Shuichi and panted, drooling a bit, slightly dazed out of his mind from the intoxication of lust. Shuichi had panted as the other had pulled away from him, a warm haze settling over his entire body that also had managed to fog over his mind slightly as he looked up at the ceiling of his room. After snapping out of it slightly, Shuichi had looked down at the smaller boy on the ground to see how he was handling all of this. Seeing how the other was slightly dazed as well made his embarrassment subside a little, for some reason. Kokichi gave a small fit of a cough, but nothing majorly horrid. He looked to be out of it, still in a haze of it all, with his rationality flipping fireworks as he just proved paste and false statements wrong. He was kind of proud of that, but also not as proud as he had hear others describe some type of thirsty bitch or a slut of some kind... Mainly blaming the foul mouthed Miu... He lugged himself onto the bed to sit beside Shuichi, mind stuck in the moment, nothing really leading him on what to do next. 

Shuichi had looked over at Kokichi once he had sat behind him, seeing that the other seemed to not know what to do next. He had a more firm grip on his thought process that before, but it still wasn’t fully back yet. So, making decisions on what to do next would either be irrational or hard. The detective had somewhat of an idea on what to do next... but honestly didn’t know how far Kokichi was okay with taking things if or if he even wanted to do more. So he decided to test the waters and had leaned over towards Kokichi, planting a firm yet delicate kiss on his lips. Kokichi practically melted as he gave a kiss back, not caring about what Shuichi thought about tasting himself, grabbing hold of the detective's shoulders to deepen the soft kiss into a harsher one. It was all the motivation he needed to keep going as his finger's nails dug into the Shuichi's skin. It would make sense from all the energy and hyper-ness the smaller boy carried around on him day after day, somehow managing to sustain it all. 

Shuichi had winced softly when he felt Kokichi’s nails dig into his skin, but found the sensation manageable and not that bad. Taking the eagerness in the return of the kiss as a signal that he could keep going, Shuichi had acted before his emotions could have a chance to make him freeze up in embarrassment. He had moved forward to wrap his arms around Kokichi’s waist as he kissed him, scooting the smaller boy closer and towards the middle of the bed with him. Not a split second after that however did the detective lean Kokichi back onto the bed, keeping him in the kiss to preoccupy him. Shuichi’s hands and forearms had found their way to the side encasing Kokichi’s chest while his knees and the bottom half of his legs had planted themselves on the bed on either sides surrounding Kokichi’s waist and legs, causing him to hover over the purple haired boy. Kokichi, being distracted by the buzz of the returned kiss let his body sway wherever the detective was leading him. Even more when sudden warmth surrounding all sides of his body began to stretch his thin fingers out and gently massage the shoulders he had been clinging to. 

Only then did lilac eyes flutter open after his mind caught up to him from lagging behind, registering that he was now on his back. The mask he had adorned cracked in a tiny portion as his eyes went wide for a split second, finding himself just below the other. Euphoria overtook him, letting the mask slip back onto his face again. Shuichi had seen the other’s eyes widen for just a second before his face had returned to the glazed over look that he had on previously. He kept this in mind as he pulled away from the kiss, deciding to move at a slow pace so the other could get used to it. Shuichi had regained his breath before beginning to plant a small trail of kisses from the side of the other’s jaw down to the crook of his neck while leaving small nibbles here and there as he made his way down. 

Kokichi was vastly different than Shuichi had thought he was. Small gasps and hitches flowed out from him, with a few 'ah's' included. His body shuddered whenever Shuichi's teeth gave a small tug, letting the trouble maker let out a subtle whine for more. It was messed up to think about, but with some clarity Shuichi had left in his cloudy mind was that Kokichi's body had come to bare with any harsher touches, always up and ready for more. It was like his own body knew how to deal with it and could derive from more while faint touches threw him off. The fact that the other seemed to be used to harsher touches really wasn’t something Shuichi had wanted to think about, even if he had stumbled onto the conclusion himself. While that was true, what mattered most is that Kokichi seemed to accept and want more of the faint and gentle touches and that he wasn’t shying away from them... So, Shuichi had gave the smaller boy more of what his sounds seemed to indicate he wanted. He had moved down and had started to kiss and nibble the other’s collar bone, throwing in a small lap of his tongue here and there. After shifting his weight onto his legs Shuichi had moved his hands and began to move them up and down Kokichi’s sides once more, the path his fingers were moving ranging from all the way up to his chest area all the way down to his outer thighs. His hands moved slowly however, wanting to make sure that Kokichi was fine with wherever his hands were touching. 

The lighter and softer touches were new and confusing to Kokichi as if his body questioned the concept of being firmly touched instead of rougher treatment. His right leg vibrated a bit with some tensions, expecting and yearning for more. The foreign concept was assaulting the trickster physically and emotionally. It was quite the opposite than people normally would have. Any type of rougher treatment might send somebody's heart race faster while for Kokichi, steady and soft seemed to make him off balance, this was justified as Kokichi's hands dropped onto the sheets and clawed at the bed. The peaceful strokes were driving him crazy. Shuichi had taken notice of the other’s reaction to the touches, not exactly knowing for sure if the soft touches were okay or if the other wanted more. After thinking about it through his hazy thought process for a moment, he had decided to keep being gentle with the other. Being gently treated might be a new concept, but this was definitely something that shouldn’t be associated with any kind of bad feeling or memory. Shuichi’s hands had began to trail down again to the waistband of Kokichi’s pants, tugging down at them softly. He looked up at him as he had did so while placing soft kisses and nibbles to his chest, not sure if the other was okay with continuing further just yet. 

The slightly younger boy let out some more noise, not lucid enough to cover them like Shuichi had done. Every touch sent shivers down his spine, not acknowledging the fact that this had felt good or bad, but at the very least mutual. Kokichi gave out a held in moan from the peppered kisses and nips being dealt to his chest. At this point, he shut his eyes, body reacting on it's own again, against his accord. His hips leaned up to rub against Shuichi's grinding against him. The feeling of Kokichi’s hips rubbing against his own had caught him off guard, making his breath hitch softly while he was pressing a kiss to Kokichi’s chest. Shuichi had taken that reaction as a yes to keep going, using his hands to pull down Kokichi’s pants along with the boxers following close behind. The navy haired boy had moved down further from his chest to the center of his stomach, nibbling and sucking at the skin that was there while his hands traveled farther to massage the inside of the other’s thighs. 

Kokichi pulled one of his wrists to his mouth, biting down on the back of it to suppress being loud and panted out, " Nrnng-Bag. Backpack." He groaned as his other arm flopped to the side of the bed, pointing down where he had dropped his backpack. He gave a whine when he made his hips follow his orders so that Shuichi could collect it. Either he had been planning this, or Miu had snuck in a small discreet bottle in his belongings. 

Shuichi had listened to Kokichi’s words, nodding softly before moving off the other for a second to reach the backpack that Kokichi had been pointed at. He reached into it and had grabbed a small bottle from the bag, a flustered feeling coming to his thoughts once again before holding onto the bottle and returning back to his position with his legs on either side of Kokichi. “ Th-This?” The detective asked softly, wanting to make sure this is what the other had meant. Better safe than sorry... 

Kokichi groaned putting his arms over his face in embarrassment, " Mrmm-no the other one-of course that one silly!" Seems he fixed his mask in the matter of seconds Shuichi left him, changing in on a whim-or at least close to that. " Unless you don't want too, that's fine" He muttered out under his own arms, faintly saying, " Least I've gotten more than that slut anyways..." Oh how it'd be great to gloat to the vulgar girl. 

Shuichi had become slightly flustered when Kokichi’s confident mask had come back, but had shaken his head softly and responded with, “ N-No, I want to.” He felt his face even more, if that was even possible, before trying to distract himself and hopefully the other from the embarrassment of what he had just said by using his shaky fingers to open to bottle that he had just taken out of the backpack. 

Kokichi's mask started to crack again as a brilliant blush spread over his entire face, arms jittering in place. The smaller boy's legs started to shake from a mix of excitement and anxiousness. Again coming to the conclusion that the other had no experience, Kokichi gulped, " D-Do you need help?" His face grew hotter from just saying that. Shuichi had shaken his head quickly after Kokichi has asked, the thought of his inexperience forcing Kokichi to help him out making him even more embarrassed. Eventually he had gotten the bottle open putting a pretty good amount of it’s contents onto his finger, his thought process being better safe than sorry. He then moved his hand down between the purple haired boy’s legs, slowly pressing his finger against the other’s entrance. 

Kokichi gasped out and brought his arms to cover his face from the sudden finger in him, entire body giving a shake before relaxing to the detective's touch. He let out a mewl once adjusted enough for the other to continue. Everything was starting to fog up yet again, mind running and the clouded maze and body acting to Shuichi's touch. The purple haired boy’s reaction had made Shuichi’s face heat up even more, a part of him not expecting sounds like that to come out of the other. But he kept pushing his finger deeper inside after Kokichi was adjusted enough, moving it around to make sure he thoroughly got the liquid on his finger coated inside of him. The usually cocky trouble maker let out a low moan, making his arms tighten around more, from either just pure embarrassment or seeming even weaker then how he had tended be. His back arched into the touch, and growled to himself in anticipation. For all his energetic personality, it would seem it effected him even in these types of situations. 

Once Shuichi had made thoroughly sure he had gotten mostly everything, he had pulled the finger out and reached for the bottle again. He had poured more into his hand this time, putting some on himself just as a cautionary measure the inexperienced boy had wanted to do. After that was done, he had resealed the bottle and tossed it gently off to the side on a soft surface. Shuichi then had positioned himself in preparation, looking up at Kokichi with a meek expression on his face before asking verbally one final time, “ A-Are you ready?” 

Kokichi looked up at him, cracking a single closed eyes through a crack of his shielded arms, " Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Anticipation gnawed his mind, making him spread out his legs as best as he could with his legs being between the other's. He prepared himself with a deep inhale and sigh letting the shy detective know he was fully ready. Shuichi nodded softly, taking a deep inhale as well to mentally prepare himself. After a moment of pause, the navy haired boy had slowly begun to slide into Kokichi while holding onto his waist and gripping onto it softly. A soft gasp had escaped past his lips at the feeling, his mind beginning to go into the same foggy state as before. The shorter boy gave out a much louder gasp than either had anticipated and immediately reached out to grab hold of Shuichi's shoulders, nails into him out of instinct to hold onto something but also to pull him closed. His lithe body acted out and pushed against the detective as if tired of waiting, bucking into him. Kokichi's expression was a rather cute one, eyes shut tight, bright red face, and giving out small shallow moans. 

When Shuichi had looked up at Kokichi and had saw the expression on his face, it was like an arrow had struck right through his heart yet again. He had leaned his body up slightly, moving himself inside of the other and starting to move his hips back and forth before leaning his head down and starting to kiss Kokichi’s neck again. The kisses were more firmer and passionate this time, accompanied by sucking and nibbles along with the occasional long and slow lick. The digging of the nails faded away as the thin arms wrapped around the instead to move along with the navy hair boy's pace. The imp rolled his head back to give more access to his scarred neck while in somewhat of a wondrous drugged state of feeling Shuichi starting to thrust in him. Again his own body reacting with these actions made Kokichi yowl out for more. Shuichi had involuntarily let out moans against Kokichi’s skin as he began to suck on it more frequently and more into the crook of his neck as the other gave him more room to do so. The combination of the intoxicated feeling that thrusting into Kokichi was giving him along with the noises that he heard him making encouraged his body to do more, thrusting in and out at a faster pace. 

Kokichi clenched his teeth tightly as soon as Shuichi started to go faster, this in turn making the quaking legs moving from their position to wrap around Shuichi's hips, squeezing and pulling him in more. The moans Kokichi elicited slipped out with longer ones buttered in pure pleasure. He was obviously not as delicate as his exterior had gave off as the panted out to Shuichi's ear, " A-Ahhhn, h-harder, harder, please." Hearing the panted out plea directly in his ear had made the detective shudder softly, his warm breath hitting the wet spots on Kokichi’s neck where his mouth and tongue had been as he pulled his away a few centimetres. He moved his hands down and slipped them under Kokichi to the lower part of his back, helping to what the purple haired troublemakers legs were doing by pulling their hips closer together. Shuichi had began to thrust harder into him as requested, moving his head down again to firmly bite and suck the other’s neck and leaving a cluster of hickeys wherever his lips had moved. 

The boy below him yelped out once the other's pace became a bit rougher, especially with the significant bite. The sudden yelp was followed by a long moan of the detective's name, Kokichi nearly drooling from the intensity of pleasure. When Shuichi was able to see the lilac eyes, they were partially glazed over form ecstasy, " Yeeees, like that-j-just like that. Just a little bit moooore~." So much for being extremely careful with him, his body wasn't about that soft life. 

Shuichi had kept the rough pace that Kokichi was seeming to enjoy, panting and seeming to fade into the haze he was experiencing further with every sound the other was making and especially when his name was moaned out. He kept biting at and sucking roughly on the skin on Kokichi’s neck, moving his head a little bit upwards to reach spots that he hadn’t been able to get to yet on his neck. After a few more moments, Kokichi was fully lost, his mind being muddled down to the rhythm, heart beating, and all the sensation, making him mumble out gibberish until some cognitive thoughts reached out, " S-Shuichi-ahhn! G-Gonna'-Gonna'!" He shut his eyes tighter before a shot of warmth landed on both of their abdomens. The purple headed boy gave out a labored pant while his arms fell away from their resting spot. Shuichi gripped onto Kokichi softly as he felt the warmth hit his abdomen, not even a second later did Shuichi shut his eyes tightly and moan against the other’s neck as a feeling of warmth shot into him. He had slowly let go of Kokichi’s lower back, panting harshly as he rested against him and placed his head on the other’s shoulder. 

Kokichi let out heavy breaths, glazed eye looking where ever their owner looked. He didn't move, his legs and half felt like jelly as weak arms surrounded Shuichi's neck to hold onto something. The usual talkative Kokichi was now quiet and just out of it completely as the side of his head mindlessly nuzzled against the side of Shuichi's face. Shuichi had overall felt out of it at the moment as well, but knew that he probably should shift into a position that was more comfortable for the both of them before he was too relaxed to do so. So, Shuichi had pulled out and gotten off of Kokichi shakily before laying down next to him on the bed. The detective then wrapped his arms around Kokichi’s waist, pulling him close and holding onto him softly before pressing a kiss to his forehead. The smaller male pulled up a blanket and curled up into the hold and let his closed eyes go into a much more relaxed state than before, letting his breath gain back up to him. Looking over the trouble maker, Shuichi could see the impressive amount of scarring over his arms and torso, yet none were on his legs. Kokichi had gone through more than Shuichi had could have thought of, but that was to think about at another time... 

Later in the night when Shuichi had woken up from a drift of cold air he saw a sight to behold... The window was opened and a stranger in the D.I.C.E. uniform, including the fox mask was placing the tiara on the desk nearby. They stopped, sensing something off and looked over to the detective and Kokichi who was fully tuckered out. The mask looked like the fox, but at the same time, rather uncanny to the fox. Was this the fox? Or was there another fox? The stranger's jagged eye glowed a blinding red as it scanned Shuichi and the smaller boy. Shuichi had blinked a couple of times when he had seen the intruder, trying to take in what he was seeing. Half of him thought this was just a dream, or he was just seeing things because he was tired and that he should go back to sleep... but there was also the other part of him that knew this had to be real. But, even if there was a fox masked intruder in his room, it could be anyone under that mask... all they would have to have is the right physique for it and they could pull it off. Shuichi firmly believed that the sleeping boy in his arms was the leader of D.I.C.E, not the one who had just placed the tiara on his desk. That being said... Shuichi didn’t know what to do if he had to confront this intruder. So, in the split second before the blinding red eye had scanned to both of them Shuichi had closed his eyes again. But, the intruder only had begun to look over probably because they had sensed something might be off or wrong... so, Shuichi had acted that he was just shifting slightly in his sleep, pulling the covered purple haired boy closer to him. 

The same voice that the leader always spoke with snickered lightly, " Calm down Detective, you're with friends, remember~?" They were so nonchalant that they had grabbed hold of amalgamation of a teddy bear from downstairs and pat it's head, putting it on the desk and set the tiara on it's head. " We've got someone to keep an eye on don't we Monokuma?" The spoke softly not to wake the smaller boy up. They looked over their shoulder and put up their pointer finger to the snout of the mask, " Shhh, rest up and get some sleep Detective. Upupupu~..." With that, they slinked off to the window, climbing out and pulling it closed, scampering up the tree. Light footsteps came from above until they dispersed. It felt weird to hear the same voice the leader of D.I.C.E had always spoken in, but some part of Shuichi knew that it wasn’t the real leader...he was convinced that Kokichi was the real leader. The whole event still confused him however, even if a part of him was convinced. But... that was a problem to think about later in the morning when Shuichi wasn’t half asleep, wasn’t in bed, and was fully clothed ready to mentally and physically start his day... So, for now, Shuichi had just closed his eyes again and nuzzled his face into purple hair once he was sure the intruder was gone. And a few minutes later he had found himself drifting back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several notes  
> Kokichi gave warning signs, mainly the pineapples, but he didn't know he had given another sign when talking to Monokuma about idk about this, seeming hesitant on distractions (also still doubtful about Shuichi). He also just kinda assumes that Shuichi just wants to do something with him and he'll be over it like a one night stand sorta thing, again what he was talking to Monokuma about. It's sad, but that's how his mind has been basically redirected to that idea  
> And...  
> If Kokichi is Daisachi, a big thing from the monkey experiment was that the monkeys were never able to become sexual in any way. So basically he would have been told when locked up, that he wouldn't be able to have any desires or feel pleasure. Unlike monkeys, Daisachi wasn't born and kept from people, where as the monkeys were. So the monkeys wouldn't grow to that point, but he'd have been notified and a bit brainwashed for 3 years, so he'd just begin to believe it instead.
> 
> On the lighter side of things when I had typed 'his body wasn't about that soft life'. I was so damn tempted to type 'not about that soft life, yo'


	37. Who Am I To Disagree?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Puts down a Tattle-Tale* Wake up, wake up, wake up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smoll chapter is smoll

Once Shuichi had woken up in the morning, sure enough the evidence was still there. The tiara adorned the top of the sinister looking bear's head-but also a tired Kokichi had been sleeping in his arms, scars much more prominent in the sun's lighting from the window. Though, seeing the imp was nice, he looked at peace, which was something that was a hard thing to catch a mere glimpse of. Shuichi may have seen it before, but at his most vulnerable, not hiding behind masks or distraught emotions was an even rarer sight. Shuichi had focused on the rare, and pretty darn cute, sight that laid next to him on the bed. Seeing all of the scars that had covered his upper body made him feel bad for what he had been through, but they definitely didn’t take away from the overall peaceful sight. The peaceful sight had made his heart flutter in his chest, a smile growing on his lips as he saw how relaxed Kokichi was. However... It was morning so the two of them should probably get up, before one of his roommates tries to come see why Shuichi isn’t waking up. Most likely Kaito.... but Shuichi had also remembered the last attempt he had done to try and wake Kokichi up. He should probably try out a different approach... After thinking for a moment Shuichi had reached one of his hands up and had begun to rub circles on the other’s upper back, giving the smaller boy a soft kiss on the cheek to try and pull him gently out of sleep without any words or talking involved. 

The panta demon slowly stirred away, eyelids lifting open as the lilac under them looked around and caught sight of Shuichi. He practically purred from the kiss and gave out a noise when his arms let go, stretching above like a cat, relaxing under the soft rubbing on his back. Soon there was a small audible crack, making his eyes widen, just now recalling what had happen. He blinked a few times before looking over to the detective, growing a red streak across his face. " Oh... Ohhhhhh...." He shifted under a mask quickly giving a cheeky grin to the navy haired boy, " Nishishi, wow, I didn't know a detective of your caliber could do something like thaaaat~." 

Shuichi could tell the moment that the mask was slipped back on and how it was followed by a teasing comment about what had happened. Even though the detective knew it was to tease him, the comment had still gotten to him and had made his cheeks turn red with a soft and nervous smile on his face. “ U-Um..Thanks?” He replied, not knowing really what else to say. He had ceased the soft movements of his hand against Kokichi’s back, opting for just resting his hand there for now. 

Aside from the teasing Kokichi offered to wrap his arms around the detective, pulling himself back over to nuzzle against his chest, slowly drifting into a state where he could hang up his clever mask up for just a moment to enjoy being next to the other. " Thank you for staying with me..." He muttered quietly, since a small part of him still thought that the other was just using him like people had in the past. Though he trusted him, just a small lingering feeling kept him from fully accepting the other wasn't lying like previous times before from the rest. 

Shuichi had glanced down at the purple haired trouble maker taking a second to relax and muzzle against his chest, the quiet thank you making him smile. He had wrapped both of his arms around the other in return, nuzzling into the top of his head before speaking in response, “ You’re welcome...” He then smiled softly, and added on, “ I’ll stay with you.” 

" Mrmm... If we don't get up, your doofy astronaut is going to run in here... Got an idea!" The smaller boy got out from the warmth of the other and hopped out from the soft and cozy bed with his pants on. He scurried over to the desk, not noticing the bear or tiara due to being preoccupied by other things. He wrote down something on a paper, then sliced off some tape from Shuichi's various tools then dashed to the door, opening it and slapping the paper to the door before closing it and flopping himself back onto the mattress. 

Shuichi had sighed softly once Kokichi had came crashing back down onto the mattress, making the whole bed shake slightly before giving the smaller boy a questioning look. Who knows what was on the note that was now stuck onto the outside of his door... ” What did you write, Kokichi?” Shuichi asked with suspicion laced into his tone. 

The purple imp groaned into the softness of the bed, " We're both taking separate baths or showers so we're going to be a while... Just turn on your shower and then when we're ready... I don't know... Was thinking..." He trailed off before poking an eye out before planting his face into the sheet again, " Maybe... One together?" 

Once Kokichi had shared his thoughts on taking a shower together, he took note about the way it was said. The idea had made Shuichi blush softly, but the meek and timid way that Kokichi had seemed to say it along with peeking his eye out from the sheets... it was just all too much for Shuichi’s heart at the moment. But, of course, that got Shuichi to almost instantly agree, “ U-Um, yeah, sure.” He spoke with a smile on his face. 

Right as soon as Shuichi had agreed to the terms, the purple haired boy went to the restroom attached to the detective's room, still ignoring all the things and notes written out Shuichi had collected and turned on the shower's water on a light setting before flailing back onto the bed and curling up into Shuichi's arms again. He let out a loud sigh and rested against the other, " ..... You want to ask about the marks right?" He asked with closed eyes, still in a sleepy state. He'd know Shuichi would ask or find out eventually... 

Shuichi had looked down at Kokichi, surprised by the sudden question. He paused for a second while thinking about what to say before holding the smaller boy closer and relaxing again. “ Well...” He began to speak, “ I’d like to ask, but only if you’re in the mood to explain.” 

An eye opened lazily, " At that rate you'll never get an answer..." With a re-closing of his eye, his arms wrapped around the detective, pulling him closer into the hazy cuddle. " This might-" he yawned out, " Be the only chance you get unless you want to ask Rantaro or Gundham..." He mumbled out as a quick flashback of Gundham's dark gaze fell upon Shuichi, backed with the snarl of the crocodile. 

Anxiety had filled the detective’s mind at the thought of trying to go to Gundham for any backstory behind Kokichi’s scars... and if he asked Rantaro, he’d probably just tell Gundham about it. So the purple haired cuddle bug was right... Shuichi had internally sighed before speaking towards Kokichi, “ Well then... how did you get your scars?” 

If he wasn't so sleepy and weary, he'd have teased and taunted, lying consistently to the other but he decided why not. " Back's from uncle's cigars and cigarettes whenever I misbehaved or did something wrong according to him. Something about 'making you strong, 'cuz no one punished you' or some shit. Front, got into a lot of fights in school, though, they weren't really fights or fair in the long run. Arms from practicing knives which is very tricky..." He gave out another yawn, not including his sides or neck, obviously avoiding those two. 

Shuichi had nodded softly in response to Kokichi, glad that he actually seemed to be telling the truth about the scars that he had gotten. It looked like the reasons he gave had caused them at least. The detective had began to rub the other’s upper back in circles, knowing that it seemed to calm him down as he asked about the other scars, “ And your neck? Or your sides?” He asked, figuring now would be the time where he would most likely get a good answer. 

The slightly younger boy didn't answer him back before opening his eye again, giving him a half dazed and half irritated look, " Let's just say telling the truth too much, being too nice, and talking can lead you into a lot-A LOT. Of trouble..." With a soft sigh the eyelid dropped back down. " Trust me on that. Or not. If you don't, well don't say I didn't warn you." 

Shuichi tried to connect Kokichi’s statement to what he assumed the scars were from already, such as a big stuffed rabbit and a collar... it seemed to connect somewhat to what he already had known. He wasn’t exactly happy with the details of the answer he had gotten, but was also grateful that he had even gotten an honest answer. “ I’ll take your word for it then,” he responded, looking down at the boy in his arms. 

Eventually they had to get up some time, making the cuddling purple haired boy whine out, not wanting to get up. All the emotions, fear, and energy taken out yesterday whirled around into one large entity, taking so much out of him that he just wanted to stay in a bed that wasn't even his. But after being slightly pestered by the detective he sat up, cracking his back, loudly popping it from the activity they both had done, which really threw the boy off. It was so damn boggling to him. He couldn't come to terms that the detective would actually go along and preform-but even Kokichi doing something like that himself. Did they really lie him about these feelings and urges? Shuichi had sat up shortly after Kokichi had, standing up out of bed and stretching softly to ease his muscles slightly. He then looked over to Kokichi, a soft blush on his face before glancing off to the side again. He knew that the other was pretty tired from yesterday... so why not give him the chance to relax? “ Um, if you want to...” Shuichi began, “ I can try and... carry you? To the shower?” 

Kokichi soon sat up and stretched, cracking some more bones before leaning on Shuichi, arm going over his shoulder, " Ehhh, just help me over instead." He gave out another dozy yawn, getting up and out from the comfort of the bed, walking along side Shuichi as support until both had made it to the tub. Kokichi blindly patted his hand around until he found the switch to turn the warm water of the shower to start and fill the tub instead, effectively sliding down and crawling in after removing the rest of his clothes, obviously too tired to joke about being nude. 

Shuichi had removed any article of clothing he had still had on and placing it neatly off to the side and doing the same with the articles of clothing that Kokichi had just taken off. He then had gotten into the tub with Kokichi, making sure the other had plenty of space. The feeling of the warm water had managed to relax him just a little bit as he looked over towards Kokichi to make sure he was comfortable. The tub wasn't huge, but it wasn't exactly cramped, making the smaller boy fit in easily with the detective, still in a somewhat sedated state however. Kokichi due his small stature was able to rest himself on Shuichi, thin arms wrapping around the other while Kokichi rested his head on Shuichi's chest, letting the warming water soak around his body. He had really run himself ragged, or else he'd be a rather difficult little pest to handle. 

Shuichi looked down at the smaller boy that was resting against him, feeling bad that the other seemed to be so worn down. It made him passive and calm, but it still wasn’t how he normally acted. Which the detective had strangely started to miss for some reason... but the way he was acting now was okay as well. Shuichi had wrapped his arms in return around him, holding him close and rubbing his back softly. This could also be how the little scoundrel was when he woke up, it was rather hard to tell. After a few moments of letting the water reach over his body like a liquefied blanket of warmth he finally sat up, stretching out his arms and back. He quickly changed the flow of warmth to freezing and splashed his face before turning it off and muttered to himself, " Everything... Everything is going to be okay." He then looked over his shoulder giving a grin to Shuichi. Again at this point, it was hard to tell if he was okay or not... If it was a mask, it was well put up. 

Shuichi looked at Kokichi after he had looked back at him, giving him a smile in response to the grin. He really wished that Kokichi felt better, but it would be pretty hard to change his mood all of a sudden. The detective then tried to start up a conversation to try and gauge how the other was feeling ,“ So, do you have work today?” He asked. 

Kokichi tilted his head in a curious manner, " Huh? Work... Work-Oh shit!" His cheeks went to a red tint either from just now realizing he was naked and with the detective or angry at himself for forgetting. He quickly hopped out from the tub, snatching a towel and dashing out the door before popping his head back in, " Oh by the way, Nothing happen between us if anyone asks." He gave another grin decked with malice and chaos, sinister in tone. He then tossed the towel over... Only for it to land into the water filled tub, " Whoops, butter fingers~" He slunk back out leaving the detective with a heavy and wet towel. Shuichi had sighed softly, standing up and draining the water from the tub before hanging up the wet and soggy towel and opting to grab a dry one to dry himself off. He wrapped it around his waist and quickly made his way out of the bathroom, peeking into his room to look for Kokichi who had seemed to be in a rush to leave. Well... the peaceful moments were good while they lasted. 

Kokichi sat on the bed, holding up his treasured bear, fiddling with the prized tiara that had created such a fuss at the station, " Hey, what's with the girly crown? I didn't know you were into those types of things. Then again, you've seen Monokuma and my room, so I guess I shouldn't juuuudge~." He said examining the splendid jewels crafted into the ornate head wear. 

Shuichi had widened his eyes, completely forgetting about the tiara that he had seen the D.I.C.E member place last night. He had looked at the tiara that the boy was fiddling with, gently taking it from the purple haired boy and inspecting it. He wasn’t a professional appraiser or anything, but the tiara did look pretty real. “ N-No...” He spoke in response to Kokichi, “ This is the stolen crown the police have been looking for...” 

" H-Heeeey! I wasn't done looking at it yet!" There was the ever persistent Kokichi the detective had come to know. He threw his arms up to try and snatch the girlish crown, managing to snag it after climbing around Shuichi who wasn't expecting for him to suddenly climb him like a tree to grab it. Kokichi hopped away to look at it, moving it around and upside-down before tossing it over his shoulder, " Ehh, I don't see what the big deal is." Thankfully the very real jewel encrusted tiara fell onto the soft bed, cushioning it's fall that would have shattered something, or at the least scuff it up. 

Shuichi had sighed in relief when the tiara had hit the bed, looking over at Kokichi with a slightly disapproving face. But, of course, nothing is too harsh. “ Kokichi, be careful with it. It’s really expensive.” He picked up the tiara to make sure it was completely okay before putting it back onto his desk. “ Anyway,” He spoke, turning to look back at Kokichi, “ Weren’t you in a rush to get to work? I don’t want you to be late...” 

Kokichi's cheeky expression quickly went into an irritated face that could only be called, 'Shit you're right...'. He gathered his belongings, stuffing the mismatched bear into his bag, " Right, right. I nearly forgot! I so caught up in that ridiculously gaudy thing, that work slipped my mind!" He gave himself a light pap on the head, " Wow, nishishi, I feel stupid." He gave a grin and walked out from the detective's room. The mask was fully back on the trouble maker. It made the detective how many times her had to wear it, how long... But anyways, now was the time to get ready himself and obtain some food before his friends got onto him about it. Shuichi had watched Kokichi leave the room, waving at him as he left. He then took a deep breath and began to get ready, putting on some clothes for his day and looking into the mirror to fix his hair up to make sure it looked presentable. He then noticed some of the... marks, that Kokichi had left last night poking out of the collar of his shirt. How was he going to cover his up... he didn’t have any makeup or anything of the like that could help cover it up, and a scarf would be way too suspicious... Shuichi sighed softly, wondering if he could ask Maki or Kaede for help. Kokichi did say that he shouldn’t tell a soul about this, but it wouldn’t do good if people figured it out. So, at least telling two of them would be better than showing it out to the rest of the world, right? 

Downstairs, Kaito was busy arguing with the smaller boy over some waffles, leaving the red dressed girl into a sighing mess, rubbing her temples to ease the growing headache. It was normally fine, it was just well... Kaito was so damn stubborn and Kokichi grew giddy when he butted heads against him, knowing the trainee would never dare harm anyone. The taller male took in a deep inhale before looking at Kokichi, square in the eye, the other smirking, ready to pounce, " So how was your little comet watch?" Kokichi asked suddenly. 

Kaito was caught off guard, not expecting such a question. it was probably a ploy for a trap, but Kaito was over enthusiastic about things he enjoyed, " It was amazin'... Shame ya' kept hold up instead of seein' it ya' lil' munchkin." 

Kokichi scoffed, " 'M sure it wasn't that special..." he said, poking at his food. 

Kaito raised a brow, " Course it was special! Ya' could'a joined us ya' know? You're roomies did. Had a blast! It was as beautiful as-as..." He snapped his fingers to look for a word until his eyes went to his favored jacket, " As this!" He showed the space themed pattern. 

" ... That's not special either." 

Maki looked over as Kaito gasped out, " W-What?! Course it is! This is one of the very few replicas of Katsurou Takara! One of the best damn astronauts out there!" 

Kokichi squint his eyes in disbelief, " Didn't that guy die?" 

" Well, yeah but-" 

" Then it's not that special. Why wear something of some dead person..." 

The spiky haired male gave a hard glare, " Because he inspired people and managed to find an amazing discovery on the moon, mars, and space in general!" 

Kokichi gave a harsh glare back, " Inspired to what, go out into space then get killed on the way back? So all he did was go out, get information, documentation, and pictures from some chunks of rocks was useful?! I think it's rather pointless!" 

Kaede turned around from her spot at the sink, washing the utensils and vessels used to make the waffles with a disapproving look look on her face. “ Hey, hey, you two!” She called out to them, “ It’s fine to have a little quarrel once in a while, but not if you’re yelling at each other and disrupting breakfast! So just eat your waffles or... or.” She paused, trying to figure out a good threat that would work for the both of them, “ I’ll tell Shuichi about this and he’ll be disappointed in both of you! If he hasn’t heard this already, that is..” Kaede really hoped that threat would work, because if so she had nothing else... she knew she was being kind of bossy, but there really was no place for yelling this early in the morning. Especially following up the amazing night they had last night. 

Both of the purple headed boys quieted down, as Maki gave a shameful shake of the head before her equally red eyes caught the snippet of Shuichi from around the corner outside the room. She gave a signal for him to come over as soon as the two others had settled down. " Morning Shuichi. Did you have an okay time last night?" She asked, ignoring the other two males in the room. 

Shuichi had nodded in response to Maki, giving her an awkward smile. “Y-Yeah, it was good.” He responded, his shoulders hiked up to make the collar of his shirt ride up slightly. He was an embarrassed mess, but he was doing his best to hide it. Kaede didn’t notice this however, as she had only glanced at Shuichi for a split second when he walked in before going back to washing the dishes. Luck was on the detective's side again as Maki had forced the two purple headed boys out, forcing Kaito to go walk and drop the hyper younger one, letting the two make up for the argument of the morning as well as letting Hajime have a break from Kokichi for only a little bit. She gave loud sigh and started to dress into her winter gear, scarf and coat and all. Kaede had dried her hands off from the dishes, going to grab her stuff at the door as well and beginning to put on her coat and such to go outside. Shuichi knew that this would be the only opportunity to ask, so with an embarrassed blush on his face he mustered up the courage to go up to them before they left and speak, “ U-Um, do...” He fumbled on his words slightly, “ You two... know about makeup stuff, right? And have... some right?” 

The more hardened girl rose a brow, her eyes shifting to Shuichi's odd question, " ... Why would you need makeup?" Her face scrunched into a harsher one, " Did one of those D.I.C.E. guys appear and hurt you-wait... Did Kokichi hurt you?" her crimson eyes glowed with a fiery aura of rage. She was not above beating someone smaller than her... 

Shuichi had widened his eyes at the immediate thought process that Maki seemed to have. “ N-No! It’s not like that!” He responded, shaking his hands in front of him before giving the two girls an awkward and uncomfortable look. “ I-I need to cover things up though...” 

Kaede had thought for a moment, thinking about why he could possibly need it. Of course, her mind didn’t automatically go to what he actually needed it for of course. “ Cover your face up? I mean you look pretty good as is, maybe a touch of eyeliner would do you some good...” 

Shuichi shifted and shook his head again, “ I-It’s not that either..” He spoke, embarrassment rising when he started to think he would actually have to verbally tell the two girls what he needed it for. 

Maki simmered down but her gaze still fixed onto the nervous navy haired boy. The dark haired girl gave a seldom thought to herself before walking right to him, snatching his shirt by the collar and pulled it down to reveal some marks. She gave a unemotional expression, rolling the red pupils before letting go of him and heading out of the room to return to with a small make-up kit she would often carry, tossing it onto the table near Shuichi, " Now I honestly wish he had hit you instead..." 

Shuichi gave Maki an awkward sounding thank you, ignoring the comment she had made after the makeup bag was placed on the table, and reached to grab said bag with his cheeks pink in embarrassment. He gripped onto the bag slightly, “ P-Please don’t tell anyone else about this...?” He asked both of them softly, “ I promised not to tell anyone, but I really needed help with this part...” 

Kaede had snapped herself out of her thoughts when they were being asked, never in a million years expecting things to take this deep of a turn so quickly. “ Well, we wouldn’t tell anyone about this in the first place.” She spoke, a smile on her face before glancing to Maki, “ Right?” 

Maki sighed lightly, setting herself down on a chair alongside the detective, getting the different makeup gear out, finding the right colors, helping Shuichi apply them since he had no idea what he was doing, " Why would I? I just better not have to clean anything-for the love of god tell me you two didn't do anything..." She gave a subtle but hard glare, still not wanting to fully accept who Shuichi was with. Again, it wasn't her life, Shuichi wasn't her family, but she did feel like a disapproving mother at times. Kaede definitely wasn’t related to Shuichi in any form, but she’s known him for so long that it practically felt like he was her younger brother in a way. So, she looked towards the detective in interest to hear if things actually went that far. Sure, she disproved of Kokichi, but he should have a right to love who he loved... but even then, if ‘that’ happened so soon it might be a cause for concern. 

The glare that he was being given sent chills up the back of his neck along with the state he was getting, knowing full well that he and Kokichi had done what Maki was hopping they didn’t do... Shuichi had cleared his throat slightly, glancing off to the side in embarrassment before speaking hesitantly, “ Y-You don’t have to clean anything...” It definitely answered at least one of Maki’s questions... The red clad girl didn't respond back and continued to help him cover up the hickeys left behind. 

Thank the heavens Hajime came by to pick the shy natured detective up, now riding to the diner with him, " Shame you didn't get to see the event. But Mahiru and Chiaki got some pictures. I find it weird how he won't watch it with his friends... But a-anyways, how was spending time with him exactly?" He asked out of honest curiosity as he parked the patrol car on the frosted lot. 

Shuichi had glanced over to Hajime before responding to him with a small earnest smile, “ I-It was pretty good actually. We mostly just watched movies the whole night...” Even though the event seemed to be a lot of fun, Shuichi was glad that he chose to stay with Kokichi. He also was happy that he was able to comfort the other from the sounds of the meteor shower. 

Hajime gave a small smile and shrugged, " Good to hear. Maybe we can try next year then."The brunette commented as they went through the doors. He seemed back to his normal self, and not the degraded and jagged exterior he had been declining for the past week. The event must have calmed his angry mood, no annoyed tone in his voice was found... Well until his eyes saw Kaito and the ever stubborn Kokichi talking as the older purple haired male was served a drink. Seemed liked the two were still in a argument, though not as heated as it was back at home. Shuichi of course wasn’t the happiest that Kokichi and Kaito were fighting, but it at least ensured that everything was relatively normal. He kept telling himself that at least it wasn’t full blown yelling like it was at the house. He was also glad that Hajime seemed relatively back to normal, more energized than he had been for the past week or so. Shuichi had walked further into the heated diner, towards Kaito and Kokichi. Since he didn’t really get to talk to Kaito a lot this morning and chatting with Kokichi was inevitable when they came here. 

" I'm just saying that if you follow in some idiot's footsteps, you're going to get killed as well. Besides, it doesn't matter, didn't you hear that they'd be shutting down the place anyways ever since the guys brother's is suing." 

Kaito groaned, ruffling his hand into his spiky hair, " Look, I'm not sayin' I'd surpass him, never would want to, but I can tell ya' I ain't gonna' die like that. Sides, why do you think his bro would wait this damn long?" 

" Don't know, don't care, it's not my fucking problem. Maybe he finally snapped under all the stress of missing his brother. Have you ever had someone taken away before?" 

Kaito blinked, " Well... I was more of raised by my grandparents... Kinda' hard when you neva' knew ya' parents." 

Kokichi huffed, " So I'd take it, your grandparents are still alive." The smaller boy then gave one of the most darkest looks Shuichi had seen from him-spine tingling and hollow, " Let me tell you something, when someone is ripped away from your life, it's the entire world slowly crushing into you, time freezes, making you paralyzed to witness everything around you, and tears a hole right into your body. All the sudden your launched away into the harsh bitter wall of reality. Then all you hear is a cacophony of silence, your heart bleeds out, and everything begins to fade away..." 

Hajime sighed lightly before walking over, " Okay, okay, both of you guys break it up..." 

Shuichi had seen Kokichi’s face along with the words that had come along with it, and instinctively reached his own hand forward to grab onto the smaller boy’s hand gently. He figured he should at least try to calm Kokichi down a little bit. Giving the other’s hand a reassuring light squeeze, he leaned forward and spoke, “ Let’s calm down... okay?” 

The smallest of them all gave a small growl, tearing himself away from Shuichi's calming grasp, quickly skating his way into the back kitchen. Hajime sat down on his stool, chatting with Kaito, cooling him down as well before Kaito frowned, putting a hand behind his neck in a shameful display. " Yeah, I know, I know... It just gets to me is all. First time we've really talked about it. Normally he just ya' know, makes fun of me instead-and I know, I need to be the bigger man and stop myself." 

" It's just one of those things..." Shuichi had nodded softly at Kaito’s comment, sitting on the stool near him and Hajime. If this was the first time the either of them had actually argued and talked about the man that Kaito idolized, and they had gotten in such a heated argument about it instead of just normal teasing... it had to be something important to Kokichi. Either that or Kokichi was just still on edge from the meteor shower and opening up to Shuichi a bit more. 

Eventually the normally cheery purple head strolled by only to put down the usual orders, taking his leave to skate away to accompany people walking in, avoiding to talk to the group of three. Kaito gave a small grimace following his frown to Shuichi, " Shit, sorry man. I made it to where he doesn't wanna' talk to ya'. Ugh... Well, look, I'm gonna' go help out Maki-Roll, if ya' wanna' swing by later, lemme' know, okay?" The guilty look slowly morphed into a small smile, trying his best to assess the situation he inadvertently caused before heading out. 

Hajime waved a small farewell with the other and took out his notebook, reviewing it, " Today's the day we get to speak with Tengan. As well as some good news and some bad news. Good news, we got back up to help talk with him since he find talking to the police tedious. Sure he donates, but that's about it." Shuichi had pushed the moody Kokichi and the guilty Kaito out of his mind for the moment before focusing on the task for today. Today was the day he would get to speak with Tengan. It was probably best to keep the whole tiara thing under wraps, at least until after today. Shuichi has formulated a bunch of theories surrounding him and about what he probably has done... it would be good to ask him questions about the whole thing. Maybe taking a more direct approach to it. 

As Hajime payed for the food like always he gave a heavy sigh, " Annnd the bad news is whose coming with us as back up, because Tengan likes business more than most things... So we need a man of business to persuade him into a conversation and get the okay on a look around." He didn't say who considering his partner hadn't asked. The brunette detective walked to a rather luxurious limo parked nearby once they left the moody atmosphere, only to enter another moody cloud of cockiness, pride, and annoyance... Hajime knocked onto a window around the front, slowly the window scrolled down to have a tidy elderly butler poke his head out. 

" Greetings Hinta Sir and..." His closed posh eyes scanned over Shuichi somehow, " ... Guest?" 

" This is Saihara Shuichi, new partner. Is uh, he ready?" 

The butler looked over his shoulder to the back of the limo, " Master Byakuya, your security is here." 

A few seconds after his butler had spoken, the door of the limo had opened and out stepped the esteemed ‘man of business’ that Hajime had spoken of. He brushed himself off and straightened his tie once he had stepped out of the large vehicle, looking towards both of the detectives in front of him. “ I don’t understand why I was called out here to participate in one of these silly games of cat and mouse. Consider yourselves lucky I even considered taking time out of my schedule for you to accompany me here.” 

Hajime closed his eyes as if he was sucking in a deep painful hiss before reopening them again, " Well I think Tengan is trying to buy out one of the buildings near the Yakuza territory, which is worth much I would presume. Just see us as tag-a-longs. We got the pass, and you should discuss why he plans to buy out that building, it's a win-win operation really, so no need to get into a tizzy." 

Byakuya sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest and lifting a finger to adjust his glasses. “ Fine. I’ll play along.” He spoke quickly before turning himself around and stepping inside of his limo. “ We’ll take this up to his estate. It’s probably more clean and comfortable than the patrol car you detectives seem to ride around in.” Shuichi had internally sighed, not really like Byakuya all that much but willing to put up with him if it meant getting closer to putting the truth into light. So, he reluctantly got into the fancy car along with Hajime. 

Hajime grunted, Shuichi managing to hear a very low and quiet grumble about how he'd much rather drive his own car instead of some hoity-toity snob's over compensating ride. Of course thy'd both just have to go along with it for now once they were placed in the long and almost comfortable limo. It was nice, but it just rubbed the detective the wrong way... It was like, it was way too fancy for his mediocre type of outlook and life, trying to be better in every way, and shoving it all in his face... Kind of like how some actors thought lesser of average people in a way. Shuichi played along with the whole thing for now and endured the ride to Tengan’s mansion. It was all worth it to eventually get there and potentially get his answers. Meanwhile, on the way there, Byakuya didn’t indulge the two detectives in conversation. Rather, he was either taking calls the whole time or texting. He was a pretty busy man, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epus7FhrZSA  
> Though this is funny, but it's pretty sad in this fic.   
> Shuichi doesn't even know that Kokichi lies to himself every morning...


	38. I'm Headed Straight For The Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment~
> 
> They've got the kingdom locked up  
> And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
> That's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna' say, I got carried away at one part and retyped it quite a bit. Also I know nothing about bushiness or real estate.

Finally the limo passed through the threshold of the once gorgeous gates, now turned into a rustic and Gothic design. The limo pulled up to the mansion, which looked relatively nice and homely oddly enough. Though the ambiance and atmosphere was clearly sinister among the background, making Shuichi's spine tingle from just how the tone was around the area. It didn't help due to the fact he believed Kokichi use to live here, along with people talking about the former owner on how kind she was. It was if the mansion was just a hollowed out husk of it's former self, much like Kokichi... Both just shells, recreating themselves within to burst out as something much darker. The butler got out and opened the door for the three, then went before any of them to ring the long groaning of the doorbell. Cameras overhead watched over the four silently. The doors opened up to reveal a very large and brutish man while in the back two other large bodyguards' looked up from a simple game of cards. Hajime walked over and presented the pass, making the man huff and back away from the door to let them in. The inside of the place was decorative and rich, but still gave off a twisted presence that just didn't sit right in Shuichi's gut. Stairs were right behind the table and guards, leading to the upper floor, leading to smaller sets going left to right and in the middle in the wall the divided them was a large portrait of Tengan himself... What a pretentious prick... But judging on who was accompanying them, Togami was probably as big as one as well. The guard led them to an extravagant den where Tengan had been watching some TV as he sipped down some tea. " Ah! You're here, you're here. Go on sit down, sit down. So good to see you all." 

Shuichi was wary when he had stepped into the decorative room that had Tengan sitting inside. Nothing in this place had seemed right to the navy haired detective, had the older man in front of them definitely fit the pattern as well. As instructed, he sat down with the rest of the party that was with him. Byakuya, of course, made himself comfortable rather quickly and pushed his glasses up slightly before leaning forward slightly in his seat.“It’s a pleasure to see you as well.” The businessman spoke before glancing up at Tengan and making small talk mixed in with business speak. “ I trust everything’s been going well. Especially since rumors of you buying out a new building are circling around.” 

The elderly and slightly decrepit man nodded, " That is correct, I would love nothing more than to do business with the young master of the Togami Corp." He gave a friendly smile. " You see, I would like to purchase the Haku property. All it is is just a few small stores, it shouldn't be that horrid to hand over now would it? Tough..." He stroked his pale white beard, " It does also contain the horse track derby, but I'm quite sure it's profits will continue to dwindle unless something is done about it." His eyes shifted to Shuichi, raising a brow, " Ehh, if I may ask, why are the detectives here again? 

Once Tengan had looked looked over in Shuichi’s direction, his heart rate had gone up and chills had prickled down his spine. Anxiousness welled up inside of him before the leader of the Togami Corp. had piped up to speak, saving from Shuichi to have to do the talking. “ Security. Some screw ups by my assistant had my usual security away from me when I needed them. So, I have the detective’s here with me.” He then shifted the topic off of that quickly, not wanting to give the other a good chance to think about it. “ Moving on. Why does the Haku property seem to interest you so much? As you said yourself, it’s just a few small stores with a horse track nearby with dwindling business.” 

Just like that Tengan nodded and waved off the beefy man who had stayed in the den hovering over the detectives, " Ah, I see. Good call on that. Not hefty, but they do have the law on their side." He smiled again before getting back onto topic, " Well, I'm sure I can clean it up, make it a tad more profitable, unless you're scared of some friendly competition that is." He kept up his kind smile like a grandfather figure who was cheering up their grandchildren. " I'm fairly sure I can spiff up the place to tourists and locals interests both. I even have some people that wouldn't mind working there." 

Byakuya had kept him engaged in the conversation, using the skills he had picked up over the years to try and see past any words to pick up any ill-intent behind buying the space and if he was stretching the truth. Or if he was hiding pieces of the truth as well. “ Even if you did try to implement more things to the public, wouldn’t the area be a big obstacle to work around? There are more scuffles around that area to begin with, after all.” 

The elderly man brought his finger tips together, putting them to his mouth, sighing lightly, " You see, I have some men who are in need of jobs, and I much rather look after them on my own terms. No offense Mister Togami, but I rather not see my men working under poor conditions. The area needs a bit more love. I'll keep a good eye on them for sure. But I guess if that property is just too much for you to handle, you just let me know. I'm sure you'll be well enough watching over the area with my boys in it... I mean, you are doing a miraculous job already by how poorly things are doing on over there." Shuichi's brain lit up... Huh, so he was a haggler, and a demoralizer... 

Just the way that Tengan had talked over business sent off red flags in his mind. The man Shuichi had seen was slowly turning into the character in the stories that he had heard right before his eyes. Shuichi really wished that suspicion alone was a valid way to get this man behind bars, but if it wasn’t backed up with proper evidence then it wouldn’t be valid... While suspicion built up in Shuichi, Byakuya had held back his anger regarding the comment that was made and continued to talk. “ Funny. A man who uses elementary business intimidation tactics talking about giving love to an area that has been trouble for years. Hypothetically, if I were to hand it over to you, how would you make the area popular all of a sudden?” 

" I've got a few ideas in mind. Simply remove some of the lower buildings and create something else that catches a tourist's eye. Possibly a casino or waterpark-" He began to go on a discuss business material (AKA the writer of Tengan had no idea about real estate or anything). It took a while as the brunette even slumped into his chair, hiding a feint yawn behind a hand. And still, this man kept up the kind and generous facade, not breaking the friendly smile or manner. 

Shuichi didn’t seem to be as uninterested as Hajime seemed to be. Instead of listening to the business blabber that was going on, the navy haired detective opted for studying Tengan. How he reacted, responded, what his body position and facial expression said about him and his words... Shuichi was determined to find something, anything, that would help him connect things together. But it was hard to get past the facade Tengan had. Byakuya had listened to the material that Tengan was providing him with, and at the end of that long list of business ideas that would make the property more popular he had pushed up his glasses once again and leaned back in his seat, satisfied with the results. “ Hmm. Mediocre ideas at best, but I thank you for giving them to me. Maybe I’ll implement some of those ideas for myself before trying to get rid of the property for good.” 

The older man let out a scoff, " Well, your bloody welcome. Taking my own ideas and replicating them as your own like that. Much like that Miu lass who tried to join your company a while back correct? Something about, trying to pitch several inventions that had worked, only to be shoved aside while your crew looked into the leftovers she had, not being able to figure out how she had made any of them in turn." He gave out a sigh, " Shame you disgruntled her so much that she won't even work for me, instead pitching ideas out into Towa City, where salesmen just gobble it up." He shook his head in disappointment 

Byakuya had a neutral expression on his face as he had spoken, even if inside he was feeling a variety of different emotions. “ That’s just business. Her ideas were promising but working with someone like her would be unreliable and sporadic. As a result, if I don’t want her then you shouldn’t get to have her. It’s as simple as that.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “ Who knows, maybe it wasn’t even my fault she didn’t want to work for you. Maybe it’s your passive aggressive business tactics that drove her away.” 

Tengan gave a shifty smirk, wagging his finger, " Ohohoho, cheeky, cheeky. That's an amusing thought. Though I guarantee I was very generous towards her. It's her fault really for not joining, much like you say. It's all just business." His eyes drifted to Hajime, making him grab his wooden cane and nudging the brunette in the chest. 

Hajime's eyes opened as he swatted the cane away, " I-I'm up, I'm up-shit..." He groaned and rubbed his forehead, glaring at the calm man who was chuckling from the reaction. 

Byuakuya had sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head softly, “ So much for security...”Shuichi would probably have found Hajime’s reaction slightly amusing as well, but thinking about what and who had caused the reaction in the first place... he just couldn’t seem to crack a smile. Even if Tengan was playing a harmless joke and seeming friendly at the moment, there was so many things that felt off about him that Shuichi didn’t trust. He kept a straight face the whole time as he thought and inspected Tengan. Hajime cracked his back in a long stretch, getting tired of their charade. 

" Well, I guess business is adjourned, farewell Togami. Detecti-" 

" Okay, screw it. Sorry but I really have to discuss something with you." Tengan's demeanor shifted into that of a surprised reaction, cocking his head like a dog watching a toddler bounce around in joy. " Look, rumor has it, D.I.C.E. may have snuck in and hidden the tiara from the play last week. We've been all over the damn place, and one location was your manor. We're not sure if it's inside or out." 

Tengan blinked, " Oh my... This is rather serious. They tend not to divulge their pranks near my home. That's odd. Surely they would have been picked up by the sensors and cameras-" 

" They've developed some bomb to disable things as such" Hajime put bluntly, this in turn actually making the old man widen his eyes in shock. 

" Oh dear! Well... That escalated quickly..." He sighed, " Fine, fine. I will tell my men to look around and for two to accompany you. I know, I know. I should rust you more, but I rather like my privacy ever since well..." He frowned, pulling out a locket and opening it to look inside before putting it back into his coat's pocket, sighing. " Very well, be off then. Mister Togami, may I offer you some tea while they try and locate the tiara?" 

Byakuya had held a hand out and shaken his head no in response, putting his hand back down a split second after the fact and speaking bluntly, “ No, that won’t be necessary. I’m expecting a phone call any minute, so I’ll step outside into my vehicle to take it.” He then shifted the address of his words to Hajime and Shuichi. “ I’ll be waiting for you two detectives once the search is complete if you want a ride back to your patrol car.” He had stood up off the couch and had started to walk out of the room, not caring if any of Tengan’s security was following him or not. 

After checking out empty room after empty room of no evidence and a large burly man watching the detective from any door's entrance was beginning to have fruitless endeavors, Shuichi finally stumbled upon a large room. Of course it was just another guest room with fancy decor, no pictures, and just bland in nature, he happen to peer into a closet which was nearly another room on it's own. The large man told him that Tengan didn't bother to redo it, giving it an intentional chilling vibe, trying to spook guests for fun, saying it was haunted by a child. The man stayed at the doors, rather intimidated by the closet. That didn't stop the detective however. Though clean, there were notes scribbled all over the closet's wall and floor, as if someone had been trapped in there. The writing was childlike but very elegant and flowing. Such scribbles were a bit caked with dust, but still readable. Some were even drawings of the sun, rainbows, happy flowers, animals, cheery little notes, ' Today is a nice day'. 'Birds are singing'. ' Mom is watching over me'. ' Everything will be okay'. ' Sing a little tune'. ' Don't be afraid'. ' You are loved'. ' Don't give up hope'. ' Love, love~!'. ' Your draw beautifully!'. ' Hope and bagels'. ' You're fine, relax'. ' Pray, Love, Hope, Repeat'. Shuichi had glanced at the various notes that had been left on the walls and the floors, noticing the amount of dust that was there and placing the time that the notes were scribbled on to be years ago. He took the time to read each and every note, the words that were written seeming to contrast the place they were written on. The space seemed like it had belonged to someone who was trying desperately to be happy. A couple of notes that stood out, like ‘mom is watching over me’, alone with the history of the mansion and who’s lived in it pointed to one person who would have written these. The unsettled feeling in Shuichi’s gut grew stronger, knowing that this was some sort of evidence left behind regarding what had happened. 

While there were more hopeful jots of colored markers that brought encouragement, such as, ' Dreams come true'. ' It's time to believe'. ' Please don't cry'. There were much darker and twisted jittery scrawling's that became more and more frequent, much darker, as if whoever left the scribbles had held the markers or pencils down harshly, forcing them to move under pressure. So many... ' Not all dreams come true'. ' Doesn't add up'. ' I don't want to live here anymore'. ' Once a child, now fallen into DESPAIR'. ' Reliving the past does not change it'. ' Time wounds all heels'. ' Hurt people, hurt people'. ' There's no turning back now'. ' Not a monster'. ' Did I deserve this?'. ' Dream to big and you will fail'. 

Eventually the harsher more dark oriented messages seemed to dig into the wood, and seemed to split off into someone questioning themselves as if they were another person entirely, slowly growing more and more unstable. ' It never moves', ' So naive'. ' There's something in me'. ' There was NEVER a choice'. ' Again and again, around and around'. ' I can't be saved'. 'Two milkmen go comedy'. ' PANDA RANG ON!'. ' Who am I now?'. ' WHAT AM I?'. ' I was MADE here'. ' OPEN THESE DOORS!'. " HAHAHA FUCKING HOPELESS!' ' You don't have to look... at the hopeless future...'. ' I despair because I yearn for hope!'. ' I yearn for hope because I despair!'. ' Despair, this is absolute despair!'. ' I feel despair upon despair and despair toward despair'. ' Hope and Despair'. ' I no longer have to hope for despair!'. ' That would just be so... hopeless...'. 'DESPAIR!'. ' I LOVE DESPAIR!'. ' WHO WOULD HATE DESPAIR?!'. 

Shuichi had read every last one of the messages scribbled onto the wall, the sinking feeling inside of him plummeting further and further each statement he had read. This was definitely the story of how the person who was inside of this room descended from a hopeful attitude to a despair-induced craze. And since Shuichi had a good clue on who it could be, it made him more upset about what had clearly happened in this room. It made him want to give the old man who currently presided in this mansion what he deserved. Speaking of the old timer, Tengan had walked into the room, now looking into the room the detective found himself frozen in. " Are you alright detective? I must apologize for such obscenity's, but, well Tajako became very distraught. Locked himself in his room, scurried into the closet and stayed there for nearly a three months." He gave a sorrow filled sigh, " Poor lad just couldn't handle it and began to lash out like a wild animal. I'd have rather not have fussed with this room. I kept it for Yua. Think she'd be watching over and be with the lad, knowing how much help he really needed." Though Shuichi was pretty damn sure what happened, Tengan sounded rather concerned and upset from the hollow room. Maybe something did happen or he was a better liar than Kokichi. 

Shuichi had looked over at Tengan, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. Both stories had the potential to be true, but the detective didn’t know if he wanted to trust the other person in the room at all. He then began to speak, choosing his words carefully, “ I don’t mean to pry sir, but I‘vet been in the town for a little bit and I’ve heard about what happened regarding the incident and I was just curious about your full opinions on how D-... Tajako seemed to take it.” 

Tengan led the navy haired boy out and down a hallway while the security accompanied them both, walking behind them at a distance, knowing Shuichi wouldn't cause much of an issue. " Poor thing was heart broken, police questioned him day and night. Eventually he just cracked down and stopped talking all together. Barley spoke to me, hid in his room. Hell, he never even left to eat. I had to bring up meals for him. Barley ate, hardly moved. Then he began to become aggressive. Police sent a counselor over and he snapped at them. Got a good hit on Haiji who got in the way. I got a scar." He said, moving up a sleeve to reveal a nasty jagged line. " Took long to heal. Little rascal had smuggled in a kitchen knife, yet he didn't ever cut himself. He more or less just whittled into furniture. Kept wearing this mask that belonged to his original mother-even fixed it. Yua told me he had use to wear it at school due to be shy. Some daft bullies broke it and Yua calmed him down, saying he didn't need to hide his face or emotions. After that, he became more happy and spirited. But once she was gone, everything just turned upside-down on him." 

Shuichi had listened to his story, trying to think over all of the pieces. It certainly was a believable story and there was the scar to prove it. However, the navy haired detective didn’t really think it was the whole truth. He didn’t think he could trust a lot of what Tengan had said. The story could be completely true, but there could be some pieces that were left out of it, like how Tengan actually treated Tajako. But, he needed to squeeze something out of the old man that could be some sort of indicator...” That sounds really rough...” Shuichi had spoken, “ And the incident that took miss Akihito was peculiar and sudden as well, no wonder he reacted like that... there was little to no evidence left behind, so that meant there was no trace of how the press had started. If it was just an accident like the police report says, it must have been a really precise coincidence...” 

Tengan shrugged, " Now normally I rather much not talk about these types of things concerning Tajako or Yua, but if you insist, then fine.The lever could have easily been pushed by a foot or simply got yanked by a passing scarf. We've redesigned it to be much more difficult to pull just in case. I really wish I knew what had happen. But ugh, I was called into Towa City to go over some reviews, or I would have rushed in there-break a hip haha..." He tried to spruce up the conversation but failed, only to frown and look to the floor, " That's not funny. I can never make a dark situation lighter, apologies." 

Shuichi had seen some holes in Tengan’s logic, dismissing the lighthearted comment he tried to make and going directly back into topic. “ But, the room was locked and empty with no one inside of it expect for Tajako and Miss Akihito... so even if the lever got pulled it would have to be one of the two by accident. Even if it was pulled, that doesn’t explain how Miss Akihito had managed to get under the press before it closed completely in a way where no part of her body or clothing was sticking out... she would have to be situated in the middle for that to happen...” Shuchi blinked, realizing he probably went overboard. He couldn’t help but be a tiny bit passive aggressive in his own logical way, but now wasn’t the time, “ O-Oh, Sorry about that, I tend to think outside of my head something...” 

The older male raised a thick white brow, " It's quite fine. And all of that seems fairly true, but have you never slipped detective? I have on many occasions, stumbling on my own feet, slippery floors, something tugging me. I mean unless you're suggesting she was pushed onto there by Tajako who simply had to wrap up his hand with his shirt and pull the lever. The police went through that theory, but I defended him against such an accusation. Or she could have simply gotten there herself and asked the poor boy to do it, not wanting him to be framed." 

Shuichi had shaken his head softly at Tengan’s thoughts, deciding it was now or never to try and get some sort of reaction out of Tengan. “ Well... it didn’t have to be either one of them. It could have been an outside party... it wouldn’t be difficult for someone skilled to leave no evidence behind.” 

The other nodded, " Right, right, but without any evidence left behind, we don't know who would even do such an atrocity. I mean, those snake brothers had started popping up around town a while after, but they would have left something if it was them. They are very dedicated from what I've read up on them. Morbid curiosity got the better of me." He gave out a small sigh. 

“ Well,” Shuichi spoke, “ If it was them, they could have left something in the press that was then crushed, or they could have left something and Tajako could have picked it up or it could have been given to him directly.” He spoke. “ Either that or they were specifically instructed not to... ditching a calling card for a large amount of money may have been possible as well.” 

He shook his head dismissively, " No, no, that's not like them... Although if they did leave something and Tajako picked it up. Where would he have hidden it? Why pick it up? Surely the police would have been able to lend much more help if so since he hadn't touched a thing. The only thing left of Yua was her and bit of Tajako's toy." 

Shuichi took note on how Tengan was dismissing all of his ideas about the Madurai brother’s being apart of this whole thing... that made it even more suspicious. Like he had come up with multiple excuses why they wouldn’t be involved in it. He thought for a moment while trying to figure out what had happened, why the Madurai brothers wouldn’t put down an item. Maybe.... Shuichi thought out loud once again, “ Maybe it was because they didn’t think they’d need an item from another victim... maybe they were planning to kill them both, so the item would already be there. But since they only killed one victim... they didn’t have anything to put down because they weren’t prepared?” 

" Again, from what I have read on them and what the department has dug up on the brothers, wouldn't make sense. There have been many bodies, couples, circle of friends, and still, they would leave an object. All of them aside from the only decent one at the local library have that code. But now that you've brought it to attention..." He stroked his chin, " Hmmm Tajako could have taken it..." He looked a bit disgruntled with knowing that now that it was an idea presented to him. " And here I thought he couldn't get more twisted up. Shameful." 

Shuichi looked up at him thinking over the idea that was presented to him, noting that he now thought that could be a possibility as well. After a couple more moments of thinking he had decided he shouldn’t press that matter further... he didn’t want to get on Tengan’s bad side after all. “ Well...” Shuichi had spoken, “ Thank you for talking to me about it. I-I’m sure it must have been... difficult for you.” 

Tengan was busy thinking before looking back over to the detective and giving a small hurt smile, " Very... VERY.... Very difficult... I just hope the institution is helping the poor boy and putting him into intensive care from such a broken mind." And like that, Hajime came around a corner from a hallway nearby, looking more pissed then before-almost rivaling Haiji's intensity, maybe even more actually. " Hm? Hajime are you alri-" 

" THEY PLAYED US LIKE A DAMN FIDDLE!" He shook in anger from not getting any clues or evidence. Shuichi had never seen him like this before-some slight glances, but never this fully pissed and over the edge. " Urrrgh... Tengan if you find anything, PLEASE... Fucking let us know or we're sending the whole department down here along with the other locations." Tengan leaned away from the angered detective, not expecting this as much as Shuichi. 

Shuichi had tensed up when he saw how angry Hajime was, expecting he would get angry but definitely not this angry. He was pretty scared for the ride back to the patrol car at this point... Well, he knew that Hajime wouldn’t do anything super drastic at all. But it definitely wouldn’t be pleasant. He would just have to bring the tiara into the station tomorrow, then Hajime would finally get less tense about this whole situation... 

The detective gave out a sigh, rubbing his face with his palms slowly as a migraine settled in, " C'mon Shuichi, let's get out of this shit-hole..." He grumbled, walking past the two security guards who had been following the detectives even widened his eyes and stepped away from the shorter male. As they watched Hajime walk down the stairs, the last grunt was playing cards with two other men, got angry when Hajime had brushed his back, trying to move around the table that had been placed at the stairs. The man was large and stalky, muscles easily seen through his shirt, and then began the harassment. 

Tengan nervously gulped, " U-Uhm Brutus, I-I don't think you should-" Before he could finish, Hajime stopped as the man got in his face, shoving him like a big bully from high school. " O-Oh dear... Take cover." The two guards who were still with him and Shuichi quickly put themselves in front as meat shields. Shuichi's amber eyes caught sight of Hajime slowly looking to his side as the man hassled him. With a quick twitch of the eye, Hajime got up, grabbed the man by arm and flung him onto the card table, breaking it in half, along with twisting the man's arm, making a loud snap. 

Hajime composed himself, writing something in his notebook before putting it on the man who was screaming, " Get over it. This wasn't police brutality, you were harassing an officer." Hajime sounded hollow as he walked out the doors as the other two coward away from him. 

Tengan brought his hand to his forehead, " Brutus... How many times..." 

Shuichi had blinked when he had seen Hajime do that from behind the guards, definitely not expecting something like that to happen. The superior detective wasn’t someone to be messed with, and definitely got his position for a reason... Shuichi had quickly scurried off after Hajime after he had left through the doors, taking one last glance in the estate before setting his sights on leaving. 

The guards began to help their downed friend while Tengan waved his cane bitterly much like the elderly man he looked, getting onto Brutus. When Shuichi was back in the limo, Togami had gotten a clear view of the scene since Hajime had left the door wide open. It was pretty amusing as the butler made a small chuckle, brushing it off as a cough and drove them back to the diner. Hajime didn't look like he had before. All the eagerness, kindness, and snarky behavior was obliterated, along with any traces of anger. He looked bored, un-pleased, and just hollow... He didn't say a thing during the ride, ignoring Togami out right. The Hajime, Shuichi knew would have just sighed, pushed it back, or avoid anything. This Hajime just sat there in silence, adding a unwanted tension in the vehicle. 

Shuichi had glanced over at Hajime occasionally as the fancy car drove back to the diner, guilt bubbling and rising in his chest. It was pretty much his fault for Hajime’s frustration relating to this case. Shuichi had lied about getting info from D.I.C.E, leading them on a while goose chase with no actual real ending. And Shuichi did have the tiara now, he just kept it in hiding so they could go to Tengan’s estate. The navy haired detective just had to tell himself it would be over by tomorrow, because then he’d bring in the tiara that he had gotten and hopefully Hajime would feel some sort of accomplishment...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't fuck with The Ultimate Hope  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBIcvTNdpTI 
> 
> \-----  
> The scribbles are a number of references are heavily inspired by Bendy and The Ink Machine, and The Pig Pen; a video by Felix Colgrave, who animated Double King.  
> The refrences include Bird's are singing ect. from Undertale.  
> Many are from BATIM  
> Two milkmen go comedy from Zero Escape which translates to Welcome To My Kingdom  
> Panda Rang On is of course Danganronpa  
> And lastly, some of Junko's speech at the end of DR2


	39. You Can Be My Bad Boy, But Understand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well... That escalated quickly!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot... Happens

Hajime soon got his phone out and fussed with it much like Togami, leaving the butler and Shuichi in a downer of a mood. The good thing was that once they were dropped off, Hajime gave a small huff, " Texted Maki, she's picking you up." He didn't say a be or anything, only getting in his patrol and driving off past Shuichi, leaving him in the cold snow near the warmth of the diner. Soon enough, Maki's car came by, sliding down the passenger's window to call out to Shuichi who had been in a slump at the entrance since Kokichi wasn't at work anymore, " Hey. Shuichi-... Hey, you-you okay?" She looked concerned, actually breaking from her stoic nature, stuttering for once when the guilt ridden detective slunk into the car. " What happen?" 

Shuichi had sat back into the seats, relishing the warmth of the heaters and tucking his hands into his pockets again before sighing out softly and looking over to Maki. He was pretty surprised to see she seemed pretty concerned, but it was a good kind of surprise. Shuichi mumbled softly, “ Hajime got really angry today... we’ve been looking for the tiara all over the town because we had gotten a list of places it might be.Today was the last place on the list, but it wasn’t there... I just feel bad for Hajime. H-He probably has to go tell Haiji that he found nothing too...” Shuichi slumped down in his seat further, sinking into his sullen mood. 

Before she started to drive she gave a small sigh and shifted her eyes around to make sure no one was peeking into the car's windows. Once the coast was all clear, the girl in red leaned over and gave him a quick hug, patting his back before reclining back to her seat. " You tell anyone... And I will kill you." She gave a smirk without any glare, letting him know it was a joke. Morbid yes-but still a joke. " Anyways, Kaito is spending time with the kids. How about we go see them? I'm sure the kids will enjoy you being there. They seem to like you." 

Shuichi sat in the car seat, still stunned that Maki of all people had leaned over and given him a hug. He barely had time to process the offer that was made to him, but eventually had cleared his throat and gave the other a small smile. “ U-Um, Yeah.” He replied quickly, “ That sounds good” 

Maki pulled up after she stopped by a small mom and pop store for some movies and wrapping paper, putting the wrapping in the back and carrying in the movies. When she grabbed the handle she froze, her expression going into confusion. She shimmied the door's handle more before dropping the cases of movies and managing to kick the door in, breaking a chair that had been nudged under. Immediately she ran in, finding the elderly woman flopped at her front desk, busy with writing a Santa letter for the children, mug spilt and leaking tea. Maki jostled her softly, " Miss Hasegawa!" Maki checked her vitals, sighing in relief, " She's alive." That was when the two heard feint coughing. " KAITO!" She rushed to the kitchen with Shuichi. 

Kaito groaned, on the floor with a small puddle of blood spilling out of his mouth as he managed to lean up from his arm and elbow. He had some rough bruises around as he panted. " Phones are out-They took mine-" He coughed out more blood, making Maki dropping to her knees and shakenly pull her phone out. 

" W-What the hell happen?!" 

" Nrgn-Some a-asshole. He's in one of the back rooms-Ack! Shit... Drugged the old gal, kicked the shit out of me-then those dumb mask fuckers rushed i-in." He wheezed out in pain. Shuichi had widened his eyes when he had heard Kaito’s story, all of this spelling out to be nothing but bad news. The minute that Shuichi had heard the word mask from Kaito, instinct had kicked in and he rushed out of the kitchen then through the building to find the back rooms that Kaito had been talking about. Even though it might not have been the safest option, his brain was giving him a split second to think. He reached for the taser that he had kept in his pocket, preparing for anything that might happen. Kaito called out from seeing his old friend dash off, reaching out, " SH-SHUI-ACK!" He began to go into a coughing fit as Maki called the police. 

" Save your breath, you big idiot." She typed in the numbers nervously, her calm mannerisms sliding out of control. 

Shuichi managed to see one of the masked people leaning against a hall's wall knocked out, wearing a grinning bat mask with the red jagged eye as signature. They were breathing in some shallow breaths and had some blood seeping out from their leg but were still conscious as they slowly looked up to the detective and pointed over to a room. The room had all of the children hiding behind two members, both banged up. A Lamb and Lion holding up makeshift weapons from the children's toys. The lion panted, clutching a hockey stick and giving a growl out " F-Fuck off! Lamb! Is back-up almost here or not?! Did you call them?!" Looking behind the two, there was one child missing from the crying group. Where was the brilliant blue haired, Nagisa?! 

The Lamb was clutching onto a wooden baseball bat, shouting back towards the Lion, “ I called them but didn’t get a chance to ask when they would arrive!” Shuichi had noticed the lack of the blue haired child from the group that was cowering behind the D.I.C.E members, widening his eyes and his mind immediately going to the worst possibly reason why. He shook that out of his head before begging to search for Nagisa desperately from room to room, determined to have him accounted for before he tried to help the D.I.C.E members. 

" Wh-What the fuc-Where the hell is he going-AHHH!" The lion jumped as Maki ran over to count the children, then sprinting off to find the missing child like Shuichi. 

Finally after fumbling around through a majority of rooms Shuichi stumbled upon one large room where an eerily tall man, looking exactly like the gentle and nervous Yasshiki, stood. This must have been the last brother... One more member was laying on the ground, thankfully not dead, but not the leader, one with a shark mask who seemed to be in a daze of being there and passing out, everything spiraling around as they made a noise upon seeing Shuichi. The brother didn't acknowledge the noise as he was busy. The man had Nagisa pinned up against the wall by his neck, not even batting an eye to the detective, " Now tell me where he is." 

The smaller boy kicked around and glared, " Go to Hell." 

" Jeez, your a feisty one. Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners-oh wait... Right, right." 

" I'm not telling some scum soaked adult anything!" 

The taller man sighed, his long tongue lulling over with him, " Look kid. Just tell me where he is and I won't kill you... Or torture you." 

" HA! Yeah right... I can see through you dumb lies." 

" Okay, fiiiiine! How about I don't kill everyone here then?! TELL ME YOU LITTLE BRAT!" 

Shuichi had seen the scene in front of him play out for long enough. He had stepped cautiously towards the two, pulling the taser out of his pocket and pointing it towards the Madarai brother that had Nagisa pinned onto the wall. “ Police, let him go!” Shuichi had yelled to him, a firm grip on his taser. He didn’t know what else to do in a situation like this, except for standing his ground and doing whatever it took to get the blue haired boy out of harms way. 

The last Madarai brother looked over in a bored manner much like Genocider Jack, only not playing along. He waved a hand to the detective, " Yeah, yeah, police. Look how about you get out of here, huh? You're just another annoyance. You look new, so I'm going to offer you to back off. I'm really starting to get pissed, and when that happens, I start taking hits even if their not on the list... Tch, not like anyone's hired me. This is just a personal thing. Don't get involved." 

Even with the word of warning he was given, Shuichi didn’t back down. He couldn’t just leave while something like this was happening. Shuichi also didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t being hired by someone right right now and was doing something personal... The navy haired detective took a step forward, holding the taser firmly and saying, “ Let him go.” 

The tall slim man sighed, dropping the child and moving to Shuichi inhumanly almost. It was terrifying as his long limbs contorted around, easily avoiding being hit and grabbing the detective by the wrist, holding him up off the ground by it, squeezing it until Shuichi let go of the only weapon at his disposal. " Looks like I have to clean up more then. I honestly wasn't planning on killing anyone for once." The brother snaked the free hand into his coat, pulling out a knife, readying himself to quickly slice open Shuichi's neck. Hope was again on Shuichi's side as if God (Or whoever) came down himself and extended his hand to grab the detective and spat at the brother... Why? Because, that was when a masked fox jumped onto his back, wrapping their arms around the snake's neck and legs holding onto his waist. The brother dropped the weapon but not Shuichi, " AH-What the hell?!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when the familiar fox mask had came into sight, a wave of relief fluttering through his chest for a split second before his mind went back into fight or flight. He had taken the moment when the man was distracted to kick aggressively at his captor’s kneecaps to try and throw him off balance, trying to pry his wrist out from the grip that was holding onto him. The hit-man toppled over, dropping the detective, but also making him and Shuichi both fall on their backs, this also making the leader yelp out from the sudden force but kept hold. The brother got up and struggled around, getting a hold to keep the other from chocking him out, running backwards into one of the walls to crush the smaller person. They still clung on like a koala irritating the hit-man to run around to continue hitting the fox into the walls. " Get off you little bastard! I can easily crush out some wind and then throw you off and snap your neck!" 

" Don't be so sure, I've got my legs around your ass pretty tight!" The other giggled out. If that wasn't enough, another fox masked person hopped through the now opened window, tackling the thin man down. 

Shuichi definitely wasn’t expecting another fox to appear, but welcomed the help anyway as he watched the brother be tackled down to the floor. His eyes then glanced to the weapons that had been scattered around in the floor, quickly scrambling to pick up the knife and the taser so it would be out of reach for the mercenary on the floor. He held both in his hands tightly, just to be prepared to use them if at all needed. The downed brother gave out a guttural growl and did something Shuichi couldn't figure out how, but the man dragged himself up and reached behind, grabbing the one on his back tightly near the armpits, nails digging into the skin and managing to throw him over and at Shuichi, making the two make a harsh impact against each other and the floor, getting the fox a nasty cut on the arm. They groaned while the one who was still on the hit-man was about to be thrown off, only for them to let go and jump away from the man's grasp. The enraged slender man began to twist around to punch or kick the remaining fox. The other leader Shuichi guessed weaved around and dodged the hits before stepping back and cackling out, pulling out two pocket knives... Only to toss one to the hit-man-the hell?! " Hohoholy shit! I haven't had a good fight in such a long-long time~! C'mon, don't keep me waiting~!" They said, bouncing around. 

The hit-man was as confused and baffled as the detective, " A-Are you for real...?" 

The hyperactivity of the other bounced around impatiently, " Oh goood, c'mon! C'moooon!" 

The hit-man shook his head, " You're more fucked up than me." With that, the two began avoiding the other, knives clashing ever now and then, the man being to tall to swing down at the other who used their size to advantage. 

Shuichi couldn’t believe that they had actually given the hit-man a weapon to fight with...they must have confidence. So, Shuichi trusted them for now. Sitting up on the floor, wincing when he had used his wrist to sit up, Shuichi had looked over to the injured leader with a nasty gash in the arm. Shuichi had quickly taken off his coat and pressed it against the cut on their arm, wanting to make the bleeding stop as soon as possible. He looked to the injured member and spoke “Are you okay?” 

The leader tilted their head at the action, only now Shuichi noticing the mask was slightly off-it looked more like a wolf instead. His train of thought was thrown off as said leader quickly pushed themselves and Shuichi back, avoiding a sudden slash going down from the hit-man. Nagisa stayed tucked in the corner to avoid any sudden cuts and lacerations. The two blade wielders kept at it until the brother had his back to the window, this in turn had the cocky leader suddenly throw their knife upwards and into the ceiling rafter's wood. This was enough to distract the hit-man who again was questioning everything, while the smaller person ducked and dove under the other's long slender legs, then kicking them in the rear, sending them to stumble forward. 

Although the leader had rolled out of the way once the brother got his stance back and turned around to deck them, something from the door's way spun in and dug into his wrist, dropping the knife. He screeched out as a light cleaver had been thrown into his hand. That was when the arrows started to whiz through the air and plant themselves into the hit-man's limbs, side, and torso. Each hitting a vital spot to paralyze and each sending him to twist around painfully until he dropped to the floor. Neither of the leaders had been expecting that as they watched the hit-man weakly drag himself to the window, nearly getting there to slump his way out. Only for him to writhe in pain as an arrow sank into his back from the girl in crimson, now walking into the room with a bow and some arrows. Much like Hajime, Maki's eyes were empty, aside from a kindling fire in them. 

Shuichi had looked over to the hit-man who was now writhing in pain before he looked to Maki who had walked into the room. She had incredible aim... and at this point in time, Shuichi was glad that she did. The look in her eyes definitely reached Shuichi, but he knew that it wasn’t directed towards him. That eased his mind a bit. Shuichi got up from his spot on the floor, reaching his hand into his pocket to find his handcuffs before slowly retracing his hand out. It looked like the man on the floor with arrows lodged into his body didn’t have the energy or strength to go anywhere anymore. Handcuffs were just not needed at this point. 

The man still struggled, managing to put one arm out of the window, panting from being wounded so heavily and exerting himself. Or well, he was until Maki stood there and kept plucking him full of arrows until she didn't have any left. She was so precise and so fast, that Shuichi hadn't even been given a chance to get near the hit-man who slowly slumped halfway to the window and half way on the floor. Maki gave out a long sigh, snapping her gaze to the two leaders, " You. Out. NOW..." They didn't waste any time, both getting up and scuttling out of the room while Maki helped the detective up then calmly walked over, picking Nagisa up who hadn't seen any of the action, curling up and hiding. 

Shuichi looked over towards Maki and Nagisa after being helped up, not knowing if it was okay to even approach the two of them at the moment without having Maki snap at him. This was a complete different side of her from the side he had seen in the car before they arrived here. He was glad that he hadn’t upset the kids at all the first time he visited... he left taking care of the children to Maki, since they would trust her the most and be comforted by her the most. Shuichi approached the hit-man who was slumped down against the window and the floor, inspecting him to try and identify what kind of condition he was in at the moment. If he was breathing or not... 

There was a small bit of a pulse, but it was rather hidden... Later D.I.C.E. had scurried back into the shadows, licking their wounds as their back up came around to pick them up. The police and an ambulance arrived on the scene, paramedics taking care of Kaito and Hasegawa who insisted, that she was fine. The children stayed in the large den half-heartily watching the TV. Ishimaru was trying his best to cheer them up but just couldn't, thankfully the gaming girl put in a game that soon distracted them all. Haiji groaned, " Kiibo, go collect blood samples, and you..." He looked to the girl in red, " You'll be lucky if that guy lives." 

Maki merely blinked, expressionless, " What would you rather do? Have him behind bars, biding his time, somehow get parole, then merrily go back to offing people. Monsters like that cannot be saved. It's in their blood... You'd rather have me spare such a sick human who would dare kill a child? It was self defense-" 

" It wasn't self-defense! You had no marks on you-" 

Maki slammed her palms on the table far from where the children were, " So, what?! I shouldn't protect someone who can't defend themselves?!" 

" No! If you kill them, you're no better then the-" 

" I DID WHAT WAS RIGHT! WHY RISK INNOCENTS WHEN YOU CAN EASILY GET RID OF SOMEONE WHO WON'T STOP?!" 

Haiji snarled out, " BECAUSE IT'S AGAINST THE LAW!" 

" FUCK THE LAW!" 

Shuichi had flinched softly from the yelling that was going on between the two, knowing that he should at least try and do something to help his friend. Even if it did mean standing up to his boss... Shuichi had stepped closer to the table and had spoken in a loud tone of voice to try and cut the both of them off, “ U-Um! Actually! In this situation it would be defense of others, and in a situation where a person believes there is danger of receiving great bodily harm or there is danger of being killed a person is allowed to act on those appearances and defend themselves or others, even to the extent of taking a human life when necessary! Since Maki was defending the children, Miss Hasegawa, Kaito, and myself who were under the threat of great bodily harm and death, she acted with the law and not against it!” Shuichi made sure not to include D.I.C.E into those list of people, knowing it wasn’t a good idea to bring them up to Haiji. 

Haiji and Maki both became silent, looking over to Shuichi who for once stood up and raised his voice to point out the facts and laws combined in-between. Haiji gave a few blinks, not expecting the shy and nervous to actually use his voice to such a degree. Haiji let out a sigh, rubbing his temple due to his arm still in a sling, " Alright, alright... J-just come by the prescient tomorrow and we'll clear this all up okay?" 

Maki nodded, walking to Shuichi while the chief went to look for the robotic human to chat to. " I called Kaede, she's going to come pick you up. I need to watch over Kaito, they're going to be bringing him to the hospital." She said as they walked out to watch a frazzled Kaito yelling at people who were busy putting him in the back of the ambulance. " Kaito, stop it!" With a quick yell, the purple haired male instantly gave up fighting against the medical care. " I'll see you tomorrow." She said, patting the detective's shoulder, going to the back to calm the flustered and bloodied trainee. Shuichi had watched Maki leave to go assist Kaito, taking a deep sigh out in relief that nothing else was done against her and that his yelling seemed to make Haiji back off for the moment. It took him a moment, but he had realized exactly who he had just yelled at and became a frazzled mess inside of his head. He cleared his throat while trying to clear his mind. 

It didn’t take long for Kaede to get there, getting there and hugging onto Shuichi tightly because she was so happy he was okay. She then had taken the detective home with her, going inside and making sure Shuichi had at least eaten something before going up to his room to rest after what had just happened. Once Shuichi had gotten into his room, he laid down on his bed and let out a soft sigh before processing everything that had just happened. His mind wandered to the D.I.C.E members that were there, and he had hoped they were alright after the incident happened. He had hoped the wolf-looking-fox masked member was alright as well, remembering the cut on their arm looked like it hurt a lot... But, he was especially worried about the other fox masked leader who had fought the hit-man head on. 

As if on cue, the chilly cooled air flowed into his room he knew the window had opened up. If he wasn't use to the leader slinking their way in, he'd have gotten onto himself for never locking the damn thing. Just like that, once he looked over his shoulder to see the grinning mask, some nerves simmered down. The fox leader hummed lightly before sitting on the edge of the bed, putting their gloves on Shuichi's back, rubbing out any tensed up kinks and knots the poor guy developed earlier from such stress. " Are you alright Detective?" They spoke soothingly as they massaged his back. 

Shuichi was surprised by the sudden back rub that he was getting from the masked leader, but didn’t dislike it either. In all honestly, it actually had felt really good at the moment... so, Shuichi didn’t protest against it at all and just had let it happen. “ Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Shuichi had replied while looking back at them, “ Are you hurt or anything? How about your other members, are they okay too?” 

" Upupupu~, oh Detective you worry too much. Today was such fun... Shame your crazy friend had to end it so soon. But the kids are safe, and you shouldn't worry about other details. My minions are just fine." They chuckled under the mask, knowing fully well of the warning they had got earlier from some hamsters. " I was very worried, but they're fine. Just a bit bruised..." 

Shuichi had nodded softly, relived that everyone was fine from the prior incident on their side of things. “ That’s good then,” He spoke with a soft and sincere smile, looking back at them still before inquiring more about the other’s physical state even though he was told not to ask about other details, “ But, what about you? Did you get hurt?” 

The other scoffed, " Heh cute, you're really worried... I'm fine, might have gotten a bruise. Why? Would you kiss it better? Upupupup~!" It was odd witnessing this much confidence in the leader, considering who he had suspected them to be. Either they had been working on their masks as always, or maybe this leader was growing out just a bit. Then again... Shuichi's thoughts started to seep into the scattered scribbles that he had read earlier of someone questioning their own sanity, eventually believing they were someone else-without having D.I.D... But was an Alter Ego another personality? Maybe a case of true self and false self... It was hard to tell. 

Shuichi had really wanted to figure out why they were so different behind the mask, but knew it would be difficult to fully understand. Maybe the mask gave some form of comfort. Today Tengan had explained how ‘Tajako’ took a mask to school until Yua told him he would be fine without it...but then again, Shuichi didn’t know if he could trust Tengan at all. The navy haired detective looked towards the fox masked leader, giving him a shy and embarrassed smile from his actions being called cute and the other implying he would kiss the wounds better. “ I-I, um, I just wanted to know if you were okay.” 

" Yet again, you worry too much. Too much worry can easily strike you down. Even let people get off scott-free at times because you're to worried about what others would think. Just like talking. Talking can lead you into things you wish you never witnessed." They said, removing one hand, fussing with their checker patterned scarf, looking at it intensely. Or well, they could have been, considering the mask covered up their face from the world, possibly from themselves as well. 

Shuichi had listened to them speak again, looking over at them messing with their checkered scarf. The detective thought for a moment before looking at the masked fox and speaking again, “ Well... I’d rather worry too much than not worry at all. Same with talking... But, I can admit I do worry too much at times...” Instead of getting all defensive about his habits like he usually had before with them, Shuichi had graciously accepted the criticism that they were giving him. It seemed like the words that the masked leader had spoken before to him about being too much of a good thing and getting hurt had stricken a chord with Shuichi. 

They gave out a sigh before returning to ease his back out gently, " Well just try not to get too wrapped up is all I'm saying..." They looked around the room, bringing up something that had been gnawing and itching at the back of their mind lately. " By all means, I'd love nothing more than to show you who I am, even if you have an idea of who I am. But you know how it goes, jail and what not. Minions would be caged, I'd be alone, all the bad people would crawl in, infecting the town with despair... Even if you say you wouldn't turn me in, you'd be going against the law, but more importantly, I wouldn't have anyone to play with anymore." 

Shuichi had nodded softly relaxing softly from the gentle yet firm touch on his back. He glanced back at them still however, offering them a small reassuring smile. “ I understand. I... already am almost positive I know who you are. I don’t need you to take your mask off to know who you are. As long as I don’t see your face under there, I don’t have to turn you in. But that doesn’t mean I can’t know who’s under there. Does... that make sense?” 

The other chuckled, brain racking about to get what the navy haired boy had just said, " Heh, so you more than likely know who I am... So, if I don't let you see my face, you won't need to turn me in, correct? But, you can know whose under this, just as long as my face isn't shown, is that right?" 

Shuichi looked at the other, thinking over what they just said for a moment before nodding in assurance. “Yeah, that’s right. Physical evidence is more reliable than a testimony anyway... I can say you told me who you really were, but there wouldn’t be anything to back my statement up.” 

The masked thief gave another chuckle before leaning over, pushing the mask up just enough to give Shuichi a kiss on the forehead. " Hypothetically, what would happen if I told you who I was, or if I confirmed it if you asked me?" They asked as the gloved hand casted out some spray and a cloth t rub away their trace.

Shuichi had blushed softly when the kiss was placed to the top of his head, looking over towards the other before actually thinking about the question he was asked, “ U-Um...” He began to speak to fill the silence, “ I would know for sure who’s been breaking into my room and be less worried about it? Nothing really out of the normal I guess... just peace of mind really.” 

" Mmm, welp, see ya' then~! Upupupu~!" They giggled out, slipping away out the window, closing it as quiet foot steps were heard up above. Seemed like they still rather keep Shuichi from just calling them who they were-hopefully if they were Kokichi... Shuichi had sighed softly when they had slipped out the window again, a part of him just really wanting the confirmation that the masked thief was Kokichi. Instead he was lift with a little disappointment and a relaxed back. He laid back on the bed, really hoping that he’d get confirmation that the masked fox was who he thought they were. But for now... he was admittedly tired. 

Shuichi soon woke up to a new day, a rather quiet one since the loudest of them all, Kaito was still in the hospital. It was bad enough he had a horrid immune system, but to also get punched out and beaten up just added onto his sickliness. Maki wasn't there either, making it abnormally quiet-even if she was silent herself. It was just him and his old time friend. Even then, the two were quiet even when greeting another and having breakfast. It was overall just depressing with only a few sounds buzzing in the back... Shuichi, not surprisingly, didn’t have much of an appetite in the depressing atmosphere of the home. Kaede understood this just a little bit, but still made him and herself something to eat and made the detective eat at least some of it. After cleaning up breakfast and putting some away for Kaito and Maki if they returned home today, Kaede had to go to work. She gave a swift goodbye to Shuichi along with a pat on the shoulder before leaving the house. After she left, Shuichi had went upstairs to collect the tiara that had been sitting in his room. He had found some random pouch in his room to store it in, so he wasn’t just carrying it in broad daylight. He then went downstairs and to the front door, glancing out the window and waiting for Hajime to pick him up. Hopefully he would be in better spirits today... 

Hajime trudged himself through the snowy yard only to see Shuichi look out like a dog, then signaled him him to follow along. Once in the car, the brunette let out a deep and long sigh, " Sorry about yesterday but more importantly, you okay man? You came in so close to being killed by some loony bat-shit crazy ass hit-man whose been keeping low for a long while now. You are one of the LUCKIEST damn people I have ever seen... Aside from Makoto and Komaeda... You're like the balanced luck of those two." 

Shuichi had offered the other a small smile, “ I-It’s okay, I’m okay besides an injury to my wrist, I think, and I have something really important to show you before you go anywhere.” He spoke quickly to get everything out of the way, eager to show him what he got. He pulled out the pouch and had quickly pulled the tiara out of it, showing the orbiter detective. “ I-I got this last night when I came back home. The leader gave it to me as a ‘congratulations’ apparently for visiting every place on the list they gave me.” He looked up at Hajime with a big smile, “ It was worth it after all.” 

Hajime blinked, as if staring off into space before letting a loud relief of a sigh out from his lips, " Ohhhh thank god! Shuichi... Again, luckiest damn guy, I swear." His smile didn't last long however, " I-i'd be more happy, but due to yesterday, Kiibo was able to get a large chunk of blood samples from around the place since your friend, uhhh, the angry one... Maki! Yeah, Maki told us about D.I.C.E. Unfortunately vigilantism is frowned upon, adding to their stack already. And well... Our results were rather... Varied." He said with a frown tugging his lips. 

Warning signals went off in Shuichi’s brain, the morally sound side of him conflicting to what he should be thinking as a detective. He really hoped there wasn’t anything conclusive...though, he hid his reaction fairly well looking at Hajime with a confused look on his face wondering why he other was frowning. “ Varied...?” Shuichi asked softly. 

" Let's just say we've got results and they're rather odd. They don't add up." Hajime commented, filling Shuichi in while he drove the car away from the family diner and to the department. " Blood samples were from Korekiyo, the creepy museum guy. Mondo, which is making Ishimaru have a breakdown, while his brothers and Chiaki are enraged with Haiji. A girl by the name of Asahina Aoi . One, Hoshi Ryoma... And erm... Makoto..." 

Shuichi raised a brow, none of those names making any sense at all. How did they even manage to pull something like that off at all...? He glanced over at Hajime as he drove, speaking with confusion. “ That does seem really odd... those people don’t seem suspicious at all. Do you think the gang managed to mess with the system at all?” 

" Fujisaki made Kiibo nigh un-hackable. Besides that, alarms would have blared off, he'd have fought back, and a virus would have been implemented into whoever was mixing his answers. We even double checked the samples and found the same results." He gave out a sigh. 

Parking in the lot of other cars and leading Shuichi through the doors where chaos and havoc were going down. Chiaki for once, wasn't at her desk, Makoto was nowhere to bee seen, Kiibo looked anxious near a hollow Ishimaru, all while other officers muttered among one another of the so called 'Scandal'. Ishimaru looked like an empty shell, no reaction, no greeting, nothing. He just sat there at a chair while the poor robot tried to comfort the poor guy. Shuichi’s heart sank at the sight of the state that the place seemed to be in as well as the people in it, along with the lack of people. This just... wasn’t right. The navy haired detective knew in his heart that the samples collected couldn’t be the members of D.I.C.E... could they? He looked over to Hajime, afraid to ask the next question but had to know the answer, “ Wh-What’s being done about the results..?” He asked, “ Are they being put into question or is the station taking them as truth?” 

" Questions of course, people have that right unless further evidence is presented..." Hajime walked over to the two officers, " Hey Kiibo, Taka still out of it?" He knew the guy was, but it was to get the robot's mind-er-program to focus on something else for the time being. 

Kiibo glanced up at Hajime, giving him a soft and sullen nod in response to his question. “ Yes, I’m afraid so. I’ve tried multiple tactics to try and improve his mood but it doesn’t seem to be working at all. Not even my comedy skills seem to be effective...” The robot hung his head slightly, disappointed that he could seem to improve the other’s mood. 

Hajime gently patted the automaton or android-fuck it-robot's shoulder to sympathize with him. Ishimaru rose to his feet and walked off in a slumped state to get some water... On the other side of the department, wanting to be alone. Not long went by before the doors near the back slammed open from a sturdy and hard kick, Chiaki puffing up her cheeks in anger while a worried Fujisaki and a irritated Daiya followed behind. " C-Chiaki, hey!" Hajime called the normally helpful and cheery girl over. " How-How... How'd it go?" 

Chiaki kept a stern glare on her face, not angry at any of them in particular, " Mondo is going to be held up for a while for more questioning. Once that's done, he's home-bound for the next week or so. Or until proven innocent." 

Daiya gave growl from the bottom of his throat, " This is bullshit. I understand about some of the shit he's pulled in the past but this is just... Urgh... It's just a fucking mess." He ran his hand through his black pompadour, messing with the gel, not caring how he'd be looking in public anymore. 

Shuichi had agreed mentally with Daiya that everything was a mess at the moment. But... at least it sounded like it would be over soon if no other evidence was presented that could convict them. That being said, none of this should be happening in the first place. At least, that’s what Shuichi had thought. 

Another door opened, revealing a rather upset Makoto, looking down to the floor and rubbing his arm while the chief tagged along. The smaller male gave a sad expression, " S-Sir, please. You have to believe me-" 

Haiji gave out a gruff sigh, " Look, I'm not saying I don't, but this is protocol. Sorry Nagie, but you'll be under house arrest for the next week and a half. I'm sure your sister won't mind your company anyways. But until things are cleared up, I'm going to have to call in a replacement..." He trailed, giving Makoto a chance to widen his eyes, knowing fully well. 

" S-Sir! Sir-please not that guy!" 

" Rules are rules, you know this." 

The smaller male clenched his teeth and curled his hands tightly only to become undone and let out a defeated whine, " Yes sir..." This was all wrong, how did this even happen-... Something clicked into Shuichi's head. The thief did say not to worry about 'other details' regarding them and his 'minions'. The other details that the thief had mentioned... was that was this was about? Certainly the leader knew something about what was going on, and told him not to worry about them. This made Shuichi rather upset. He would have been fine with the simple stealing of valuable items, harmless pranks... but this wasn’t a harmless prank. This effected the livelihood of good and innocent people. Using them as a cover up was just... unacceptable. If the leader of D.I.C.E. was behind this... then Shuichi needed to have a word with them. 

Hajime rubbed the back of his neck as he watched Mondo walk out from the doors with two officers, making Ishimaru jump up from sitting far off and running over to him along side the tiny Fujisaki and equally large Daiya. Makoto on the other hand got some consoling from Chiaki who was helping him out of the building. Hajime at the very least managed to gain the attention of Haiji, " What is it now?" Hajime stayed silent and brought up the tiara, making the chief's eyes widen, " Oh my god... Kiibo, put that thing in storage for now! I've got several places to call-holy shit!" Haiji was ecstatic, rushing to his office to contact people . Hajime, thought feeling better that the tiara was now in safe hands, still looked a bit glum. 

Kiibo had rushed off with the tiara in hand to do as Haiji said, leaving Shuichi alone with Hajime. The navy haired deceive hated seeing Hajime this glum. He could only assume the heavy atmosphere that was drifting through the building from the results had him down, along with the fact that Chiaki seemed upset as well. Shuichi looked over towards Hajime before hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. He definitely wasn’t the best at this, but it was worth a try. “ We... just have to wait it out, right? E-Eventually everything will be back to normal... Unless you think there’s something else we can do... then I’ll help as best as I can.” 

Hajime gave his partner a soft smile, thanking him for trying to comfort him, " T-Thanks... And no, after Haiji's done. We'll need to go find the other three and question them. If push comes to shove, we Haiji might be joining along and putting those leg sensors to work on them as well if the other two are getting the same treatment." Shuichi didn’t like the thought of leg sensors being used on the other three at all... he hated how it had came down to using those to try and track down the members of D.I.C.E. He also didn’t like the thought of tagging along with Haiji to all of those places, finding him not very pleasant to work with. Shuichi had sighed softly in his spot, nodding softly from Hajime’s statement in acknowledgment. Hajime's old self started to rise up-about damn time as well. He quickly looked over to the down in the dumps partner and thought it wouldn't be fair for him to go through with this fuss today after all that had happen to him and his friends. " When Haiji comes back over, tell him you got too bruised and banged up." Hajime gave the other a steady wink and smirk. Eventually Haiji finally down with calling the areas Hajime and Shuichi had looked over. The next thing that came to be was Haiji having to tag along unless Shuichi spoke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_oCPBQmjvE A part plays during the fight
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hzuu1h53H4  
> Don't fuck with kids! Says Jaboody's Spider-man
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX613U_DWzE 1:47-1:53 for yet another reference to Shuichi being helped in the scuffle


	40. What Is This That's Happening? What Is This Feeling?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feels, feels, and oh look more feels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi... friggen soft-core adrenaline junky

Shuichi had taken in a deep breath to gain courage before going to Haiji and getting his attention, thankful that Hajime had started to return to a normal mood and given him the idea to do so. The navy haired detective cleared his throat before speaking to Haiji, “ U-Um, excuse me, sir,” He began to speak towards him, “ Yesterday in the incident I had been apart of trying to take the culprit down and gotten bruised and banged up in the scuffle... would it be okay if I went home early today and pushed the interviews back to tomorrow?” With a small tired nod, the older man agreed for him to go rest at home. He didn't say anything from being so overwhelmed with things, and just saw this as another thing that'd be piled on if not given the okay. Hajime soon drove him back to the humble but quiet abode before getting back to clear out some of his job. 

Again all that lay inside was silence engulfing the rooms. Kaede had gone to her job, leaving the detective all alone. It was like the times before, only... Depressing... No happy-go lucky Kaito to cheer him up and give a goodbye before work, and no contained Maki to pop in after work. Nothing was there. Just emptiness... Shuichi didn’t bother to eat anything as he slowly trudged his way up to his room, knowing that in least in there he was normally alone. So, maybe the feeling of loneliness and emptiness in the house would quell just a little bit. He had shed any overcoats or anything once he entered his room, dropping his belongings carelessly near the doorway before going over to his bed and sitting on it. It was rare that Shuichi would get into a state like this, passive and almost numb, but when it did happen it left the navy haired detective with blank thoughts. His head just empty as he sat there, gazing at the wooden floor of his bedroom for what seemed like hours. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this. In all honesty, a couple of hours had gone by, resulting Shuichi to lay in be and listen to that small creaks of the house, air conditioner, and just let himself go, looking up. He may have fallen asleep once or twice, but in the end, even when woken, he still felt the same...

Another hour ticked by, only for new noise to burst the silent bubble that had sat around him. The sounds of the window opening and closing. The fox from before viewed over him, looking down to get a better view of his face. Shuichi had been feeling the same way for the past few hours that he had barely noticed the fox mask creep into his vision. It took him a second, but his golden hues went from zoned out and numb to focusing on the mask that was hovering above him. In all honesty... Shuichi didn’t even know if he wanted to see them right now. After learning what they potentially could have done. The detective hadn’t greeted the masked thief before questioning them, a dull and almost lifeless tone in his voice, “ What did you do to make the samples read for those people...” 

They tilted their head like the child Shuichi suspected them to be, " Huh? Wow, you're really not yourself without your friends or food. You should really have a Nickers." They said in a cheery tone only to not have a response. " .... Just to let you know, I saw this shit coming. I know Haiji. I know him well. Putting people under house arrest until further evidence right? Upupupu~! I know how that feels... All to well..." The voice under sounded pained. " I didn't make them. We don't harm people. Accidentally yes, but never intentionally." The tone started to shift around, " We steal yes, but it's not like we broke in to take their blood directly. Come now Detective, don't let your mood get the better of you. Think..." The tapped their pristine mask's temple with a gloved finger. " How in the world would people have someone else's blood?" 

It was hard to not let his mood get the better of him when he was at the point where it had when the masked thief arrived. Shuichi had sighed softly and tried to think of a situation where people would have someone else’s blood. Well... there were blood drives, that could be a source. But Shuichi didn’t know if there was even one of those recently and if the people suspected would participate in one. So it was an idea, but not a well backed one. There was also blood testing, but Shuichi also didn’t know if they went to the same doctor or even if they went recently and had one performed... so that was basically off the list. Shuichi had thrown the idea out there, looking up to the masked thief and speaking in the same tone as before, “ A blood drive or something of the like? A blood draw?” He listed off everything floating through his head. 

The thief leaned in slightly closer, " You're on the right line detective... It's so interesting how blood banks are formed isn't it? That and how you can properly store packs. But even more interestingly is how the the human body of healthy normal adult has red cells of about half a liter of blood are produced by the bone marrow every week. It's quite something to behold. Mix that up with some Kevlar under the clothes, having portioned home made bags wrapped around them, a few premonitions of a creepy 'warlock', and there you go... Cowardly yes, but, it's for the greater good... I know how your boss works. You should trust a leader such as I when I say, don't worry." 

Shuichi had looked up at the masked thief, his thoughts pouring out like a fountain due to the state of his mind at the moment and the mood he had managed to slip himself into like a glove. “ How can I not be worried when the people whose blood belonged to are now under suspicion, innocent and good people... this’ll be on their records forever, being forced to stay under house arrest, having loved ones deviated that they were under suspicion, people up in arms about how the process is taking place...” Shuichi had sighed softly, moving his arm up so his eyes had been placed in the crook of his elbow. “ How it’s part of my job to interview and punish innocent people under suspicion...” 

The other let out a soft scoff, " Detective, you're overthinking things. Honestly, all you need to do is do some finagling, plant an idea into someone or suggest they all might have something in common. Surely the others aren't as idiotic as I take them for~. Haven't I told you before, in order to do some good, you have to be the bad guy?" They giggled darkly, " Why do you think lies exist? The police already know how slippery we are, pieces will fall into place." They gave a light sigh, " This is what happens when you're dealing with a criminal, Detective. You should know this. Again, we technically just stole." 

Shuichi had sighed softly after they spoke, admitting to himself mentally that the masked leader was right. Shuichi was probably overthinking things at the moment, something he tended to do if thoughts kept brewing in his head without someone there to interrupt him. He also probably had been getting to comfortable with the aspect that the leader was someone he could completely trust, even if he was sure he knew who was under that mask. Even if the group did do good things, they also committed crimes... just maybe not as serious of crimes as other criminals committed. But they weren’t inherently bad people... The detective had slowly sat up from his spot on the bed, looking at the masked thief who stood besides him with a weak yet lighthearted smile, “ But you’re not exactly a normal criminal, are you?” He asked, rhetorically. 

Said criminal stayed silent before snickering, " Exactly, now you're getting it. And here I thought you'd be in a slump all day. I will acknowledge and admit what I did was wrong, yes. I don't like pushing the blame onto others, only bad leaders do that... But, upupu~. Well, if one of my minions is caught, pretty soon they'd all be caught and taken. A true leader needs to keep them in order, protect them, and cherish them." They moved away from the bed, letting their point of view sink into the detective. They may have been manipulating him, but, from who he was sure who they were, it was hard to know exactly if that was their intention or not. " Honestly, I'm a bit shocked your not angry at me." 

Shuichi for the moment had decided to take the leader’s explanation as the truth. It made sense to him at the moment, and it had managed to ease his consciousness a little bit that the masked thief had realized that what he was doing wasn’t exactly morally correct. Shuichi looked up at the leader from his spot on the bed, swinging his feet over the side of the mattress slowly, “ Who said I wasn’t angry at you?” He spoke, “ I’m upset with the way you handled things. But... that doesn’t mean I can’t see things from your point of view either.” 

The thief brought a finger to the mask's chin, tilting their head, " Oh? Wow, you're much more intuitive than any officer I've ever met, actually taking advice and putting perspectives into view. Everyone else would just brush it aside." They clapped a bit in amusement, " See, this is why you're such fun~! But among other things, you don't think I'm upset with myself as well? Like I said, we don't hurt people. I HATE having to do something lowly like that, but it was a necessary evil to protect me and my minions. So... Are you upset and disappointed in me? Or actually angry with me? Because, I have NEVER... Seen you angry, and that's piqued my curiosity, upupup~." 

Shuichi thought for a moment about the last time he was actually truly angry at someone... besides the negative thoughts he felt towards certain people in this town, he couldn’t remember the last time he was actually angry and expressed it towards the person he was angry at. “ Just upset and disappointed with you.” He stated, giving the leader an awkward smile, “ It would probably take something more than that to get me to the point where I was really angry to be honest, sorry to disappoint...” 

The thief put their arms behind the back of their head, " Much like you say, sorry to disappoint you. I don't like making people upset, that's something bullies do. Riling up someone on the other hand... Upupupu, that's much more fun~! Buuuuut, if I do something to piss you off, I fear you might not want to be near me anymore." They gave out a dramatic sigh, swaying one hand away and onto their mask's head, " That'll be very tricky... It's easy to make anyone hate me, but I don't want that. Just a small rile is much better. Not too harsh, but not too kind. You Detective, keep making me think... Congrats~!" 

Shuichi had lifted a brow, replying softly to the leader with a soft, “ Um...thanks?” The detective then had sat up a little more, correcting his posture while sitting at the end of the bed, “ So... is there any reason in particular you decided to drop by tonight?” He cleared his throat looking off to the side with a flustered look on his face, “ N-Not that I want you to leave or anything...” Honestly, if anything Shuichi would have the masked thief stay for longer to keep him out of the slump he was in. But, he knew the criminal had their own schedule to keep most likely... and probably wouldn’t want to stay with him for long in the first place. If anything he would want, it'd be to have Kokichi here, without the leader facade Shuichi thought he put himself in. But of course, he would be too embarrassed to admit either of those things with a straight face. 

" Weeeell... I didn't see you today, or well, when I'm incognito so to speak-or rather my 'weak self'." They huffed out. Seems like they didn't think to highly of their normal self who was just a civilian, so instead a mask was used to give them courage. It was sadder if they really were Kokichi,and it'd explain multiple things actually. The messages left in the mansion showing his mind wearing down, believing he wouldn't love anyone, how he curled up and cried so easily. " Also, I'm still caught up on yesterday. I'd never tell who I am truly, and you didn't guess correctly of who I could be. Unless you'd like to try again?" 

Shuichi had looked up at them with intrigue, definitely ready to try and guess again of who they could be. The navy haired detective had nodded at the proposal, the comment about not seeing him today saddening that they thought about themselves like that in that way but also a very helpful clue that further helped Shuichi’s hypothesis. “ So,” Shuichi began, “ Are you going to use cards again or should I just say who I think you are?” 

" I much rather hear it from the horse's mouth. That's what makes foxes curious after all. See if you're wrong or right. I'm just wondering how I'd be able to respond if you somehow got it right. I mean, I could just lie. That's what many people do, right?" They chuckled under their breath. It was like half wanted to let Shuichi know, but another part absolutely hated the idea of ruining the facade; possibly fearing it might throw a wrench into the relation of thief and detective along with fearing all the work would break. 

Shuichi thought that his answer was ninety nine percent right, just from bits and pieces he’s collected pointing to one person... now it was just a matter of them telling the truth or not. It took a moment for the detective to think about how to answer this in a way that might make the other more persuaded to tell the truth. “ Well...” He hesitantly spoke, “ I think you’re one half of what makes up Ouma Kokichi. The half that gains more confidence after putting that mask on, becoming the kind of person that you’ve convinced you want to be. The other side that likes to set up things dangling in front of me on a string and coaxes me to go and catch it. Because if you’re really Kokichi under there, this is only a part of what makes you, you. A-And I personally enjoy my interactions with both sides... if that even makes sense. That’s how I perceive it at least...” 

The leader stayed silent for a good minute, but considering the porcelain mask covered the expression they were sure to be showing-either that or a hollow look, it was hard to make out what exactly was seeping around in their mind. " ..... H-Hehe-haha-upupupupup!" They rolled their head back and began to bark out a maniacal laugh before curling up a bit, covering the mask with their arms, laughter oozing out into a mess of hiccups. Both sides of the mask along with the inner and outer selves were conflicting heavily. This in it's own was not what Shuichi was expecting or even wanted, this was suppose to be a strong leader full of pride, but it looked like the sweet words of enjoying both sides made the one seeking affection burst out suddenly. It was like the time they were locked in the small store from the snow. " AHAHAHAHA! I-Is this what it feels like, being a-accepted as someone, n-no matter the masks you p-put on you?!" They began to drop to their knees and onto their gloved hands, shaking as they studied the floor. " Upupupu-This-This isn't despair-but it still hurts! It hurts in another way! What the hell is this f-feeling?! W-Why?! Why does it hurt?!" 

Shuichi had watched as they dropped to their hands and knees onto the floor, widening his eyes at their reaction. He definitely didn’t expect something like this... The navy haired detective slowly lowered himself down onto the floor in front of him, sitting on his knees and hesitantly reaching his hands out and placing them gently on top of the other’s gloved ones. “ Maybe...” He began softly, “ Maybe what you’re feeling is relief?” 

Their gloves tried desperately to dig into the wooden floor and scratch it, even flinching from the soft touch. " I-I don't know! I'm not suppose to be like this!" The shaking started up rather violently, " No one is suppose to enjoy being with me! Why the fuck are my emotions spreading?! N-No one is suppose to see them-know them!" They momentarily pushed the mask up and to the side of Shuichi so an arm could wipe their face, " I've gotten soft... I need to be strong dammit!" The arm tore away and slammed itself onto the floor in a curled up fist. 

Shuichi couldn’t just sit back and watch them completely self destruct over this, the sight of it while being almost positive of who it was under there, was breaking his heart. Shuichi had bravely lunged forward from his spot on the floor, gripping onto the masked fox tightly despite any repercussions that might occur or any fighting back, “ You are strong!” He declared, gripping tightly onto the other and closing his eyes tightly, “ Letting other people see your emotions, making them known... That’s one of the bravest things you can ever do! Letting someone into your life and acknowledging their acceptance takes strength and courage, especially when you haven’t let people in for years...!” Shuichi had let a shaky breath out before adding on softly, “ True strength isn’t hiding your emotions away from yourself and others... it’s accepting those emotions and letting others accept them too...” 

The small leader froze up much like that horrible despair induced nightmare Shuichi had that one night. They stayed like that and eventually leaned into the detective, tears dropping onto his black sleeves. All the emotion had left them in a short circuit while Shuichi's words slowly sank in. It wasn't like they weren't acknowledging it or trying push it away. They were just busy letting their mind look into it, rereading his words over and over, trying to grasp the concept of them. It had been a long, long time from receiving praise for being brave. Brave and stupid yes, but not just being brave and especially not for showing true emotion. They slowly began nuzzling, nodding their head against him... Or rather just nodding, either agreeing with him, or maybe they finally let him know that he was spot on. Shuichi had felt them nod against him as well as noticing the tears that fell and hit his sleeve. He had brought the other close, pulling them closer and wrapping his arms around just just a little more firmly and securely. Shuichi had did this partly for the one in his arms, trying to make them feel secured and accepted while they sorted what they felt and used him as a shoulder to cry on. And partly to reassure himself that it wasn’t the nightmare he had multiple nights ago. They were in his room with the mask still on, and instead of apologizing profusely with the crying as a sign of breaking down, the crying was a sign of building back up and becoming stronger... braver. 

The small leader eventually stopped their head's motion and sniffled, settling into everything surrounding them. The fox rose a hand to their head and began to fuss with something on the side Shuichi couldn't see. Once their hand moved away, the arm extended out and seemingly dropped nothing to the floor before withdrawing their arm and curling up as best they could given their position. When Shuichi's eyes scanned the area, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary-wait... There was a small light strand of hair they had intentionally dropped, it was their way to tell the detective who they were without saying out loud. The stray hair was violet, darker than Kaito's more vibrant color. A small smile had grown on his face when he saw the violet strand of hair on the floor, seeming to know right away who it belonged to. Shuichi leaned his head down and rested it on top of the other’s head and loosening his grip so he could move his hands along the leader’s back, moving them in the same circular motion that he had done when the mask wasn’t being worn to let him know that he had understood what was trying to be said. The fox masked boy leaned into Shuichi's calming touch, tired from sudden realization, sudden emotions, and sudden acceptance. He had worked himself up too much and was going through some recovery, broken mind trying to weave together everything to make perfect sense and gain some clarity. Much like how Shuichi knew them, they were going to take a bit to adjust from the harsh crash of inner confliction, it'd be best not to rush the other, this in turn had the fox go limp like always after too much going on in their mind. 

Shuichi had kept holding the other close, moving his hand along in a circular motion on his back while he had processed the whole event that had just happened. The navy haired detective was happy to give all the time they needed to slowly pick up the pieces. He then had looked around his room for a minute before leaning up slightly and wrapping one of his arms around the bottom of the other’s upper legs and one arm holding his torso close. Shuichi slowly began to sat up, having the other lean against him as he walked to the door to his room and made sure it was locked, leaning the masked fox against him while the hand holding his upper body went to lock the door. He then walked over to his bed, gently sitting down on it as to not disturb the other before laying the both of them down on it slowly. Several minutes went by, the normally spunky leader of the small organization stirring awake from his own thoughts and emotions to realize where he was and noticing the detective was still holding onto him. He smiled behind the grinning mask and nuzzled into the crook of Shuichi's neck, making himself more comfortable. It'd be much better without the fox on his face, but it was better not to let the detective see his face like they had discussed. They pulled away in order to lean on him, arms wrapping around Shuichi, and letting out a silent sigh of relief. He knew this wouldn't last and Shuichi would begin to grow curious about certain aspects. " ..... I know you want to know things... Just let me know already..." 

The detective in question looked down at the other who had leaned onto him and wrapped his arms around him. He had kept his arms in the same spot they were at while questioning the other, “ Know things?” He spoke, not really sure what the other meant. 

" I can only imagine how many questions you have about me, better to just say it then keep waiting trying to piece what happen next when this happened or that..." He seemed to be talking about well... Everything in general, most of what Shuichi had been able to put together. 

Shuichi had thought about what he needed to know from him, noting that he had mostly pieced together what had happened already without the other’s help... but, it would be nice to know if Tengan was lying about what happened or not. “ Well...” the detective spoke softly. “ What happened after... Yua died? In the days leading up to when you were taken to the institution?” 

The other stayed relatively quiet before scrunching themselves up against Shuichi's chest, as if to bury themselves and hide away from the very air they were breathing. " I laid there... Waiting to wake up. For the nightmare to be over. It never stopped. I didn't touch anything. We use to watch criminal stories together. No evidence left behind. I couldn't do anything but lay there. Workers came in, found me... So many questions from the police, over and over, and over. Everything became numb. Stayed in my room, didn't sleep, didn't eat. Would sneak out to grab food-like hell I'd trust his meals. I avoided him, didn't talk... He'd keep talking, I hated listening to him. He got 'therapy' to visit-so many voices, so numb-Just wanted to shut them up." 

Shuichi listened to everything the other said, noting how some of it matched up with the story that Tengan had told him earlier. Holding the fox masked leader close, he spoke gently, “ What did ‘he’ do that make you distrust him so much?” He wanted to know the full option that the other had on the older man. 

The other sighed out, " ... Hitting on my mom. Talking about finance. Ignoring me, avoiding me. Lying, cheating at chess, pushing me around, smacking me with his damn cane when mom wasn't around, never getting food for me, 'forgetting' my birthday. Telling me to 'face reality', how I never stood up for myself, I only bring despair. I'm too weak, I'm too cowardly, I only get people hurt, I-I killed her... My fault for my parents-My fault bullies picking on me, my fault the crocodile at the zoo doesn't like him, my fault for making things difficult-MY FAULT that my uncle hit me, MY FAULT I COULDN'T SAVE HER! MY FAULT! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" He started to shake again, cringing, and clenching his teeth. " My fault the police didn't get any evidence and didn't know who did it..." He grabbed at his checkered scarf, soon clutching it tightly. 

Shuichi had gripped onto him tightly once he had began to shake, holding him close and rubbing his back to try and comfort him, “ None of that was your fault at all, none of it...” He watched the other grip at the checkered scarf around his neck, wondering why he did so, “ Did.... Did the culprit leave anything behind at the scene of the crime? Did you pick up anything?” 

" ....." The fox masked leader stopped moving and jittering, only to breath awkwardly for a moment or so. They continued to stay quiet, more than likely biting their lip, " N-No... No-No-Yes-yes..." The masked person grumbled under their breath, messing with the mic in the mask, " I just wanted to hold onto something. I had to fix him-make a sling for him-we both lost everything that day-He was in such pain-he needed to be fixed." Who the hell was 'He'? 

Shuichi had noticed the rapid put together sentences that were being spoken, holding them as close as possible and rubbing their back still and speaking softly to them, “ Hey, deep breaths, okay?” He wanted to make sure they were okay before he continued to question, not wanting to push too far out of comfort zones. But when Shuichi knew he was okay, he would ask about the ‘he’ in this situation.” 

The smaller male began to scratch at the rough marks that were hidden under the scarf, taking in deep breaths, " S-Sorry. I'm not use to telling anyone the truth-Lies are much better. Lies keep you safe, lies don't make you hurt, lies are nice..." The leader was still winding down from letting the detective know who they were, starting to fear the repercussions, but after not being able to tell anyone what had happen, just made him want to gush out the packed in and hidden information that he kept locked up for years. It felt nice to let it off his chest if only briefly. 

Shuichi had given the other a soft smile, letting him take as much time as he needed to calm down a little bit, “ It’s okay... just take as much time as you need. Telling the truth may be foreign or frightening... but if you keep the truth hidden, I won’t be able to help you as good as I could.” He kept continuing the comforting motions, letting the other relax if only for a brief moment, “ Just tell me whenever you feel better, and I’ll ask some more of my questions.” 

The fox was really giving in to Shuichi, all of it-he had to stop, it wasn't fair. His little devious Overlord type of mask had been building back up as the two talked, finally sealed up with no cracks. It was just how he was, masks would shatter, he'd be vulnerable for a bit, but once it was fixed, it was always slipped back on. It was a process his mind and emotions had equipped themselves with. The leader had resurfaced yet again, talking control over the situation. The other huffed out, " Mrmm, just more questions. So boring, just like when they kept asking for days and days..." They sprung up, moving themselves to a position of grabbing Shuichi's wrists and straddling him, " Upupupu, it's getting so old! Needs more excitement!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when the leader had suddenly sprung up and had grabbed him by his wrists, straddling him. The navy haired detective looked up at the other with a soft blush on his face, a bit thrown off from the sudden mood change of the other. “ E-Excitement?” He had asked, a part of him knowing the easy answers couldn’t have just kept coming until he was satisfied. There seemed to always be a catch with the fox masked leader. 

The other snickered behind the mask, showing off the true grinning side that wanted nothing more than to play, be it luring, toying, teasing, or even bloody from what Shuichi had noticed the other day. Out of all the people he had to fall for... It just had to be the crazy one... " If I keep just telling everything, it gets more and more repetitive. So how about a wager instead? You were sneaky and caught me with my tail between my legs. That's not fair, but bravo on doing something so sly~!" It really... wasn't that sly. Shuichi was just talking with the other in actuality. 

Shuichi had expected something like this when the other had mentioned making things more exciting. The detective had sighed softly, looking up at the masked thief he had happened to fall in love with before asking him for what seemed like the millionth time in some form, “ What do you want to wager then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course the leader is Kokichi... The other questionable times was Yuta (Asahina's bro) filling in as him.  
> Kokichi's rambling about his fault and stuff, some is just how his mind perceives it. Not all of it is Tengans doing. Some is, yes, but not fully. Kokichi's mental state just snapped when she died, making him become really unstable since he was already a pretty emotional kid to start with.  
> In note, in this fic, he really is much like Asriel/Flowey from Undertale. Both determined to have fun at someone's expense, being twisted, not wanting anyone to know who they, not wanting to even be called by their name. But inside, they really are lonely, sad, and scared children who don't want to be hurt and tend to bock out anyone by hiding under a persona. Though Flowey is more literal...


	41. Say Love, Say Love, Loves Gonna' Get Ya' Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look! NSFW content!  
> Don't forget to comment ;w;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi and his weird detective kink, I swear this boy...

" I answer you a handful of questions, but every time, we play a game. Deal?" He cooed out, having the jagged eye look under him, looming the red glow directly at him. Why could they never be easy? " I'll even help you out~! Maybe a game of tag, hide and seek, something risky, something rewarding~." They let go of one wrist, grabbing Shuichi's chin, chuckling. 

Shuichi had blushed softly when his chin was grabbed, a little embarrassed by the other’s chuckling, but nonetheless he wasn’t just going to decline the offer when there was the chance a good chunk of his questions were going to be answered. The detective had nodded softly in response to the masked fox before looking up into the glow of the jagged red eye and speaking, “ Okay, deal.” 

" Awww Detective you're like a police pupper~!" They giggled out, pulling both hands on the sides of Shuichi's cheeks, almost like one would do to a dog, ruffling up it's fur, " Always up for a challenge, being cute, being loyal, always up to chase after a fox~!" Now he was just teasing the detective, " You know this will continue unless I'm caught off guard right? Just a fair warning~!" He said before grabbing Shuichi by the wrists again, happy where he was. 

Shuichi had became embarrassed when they had started to treat him like a dog, teasing him. He knew it was meant to try and embarrass him, but he couldn’t help but let it affect him. The detective had cleared his throat softly before looking up at the masked leader, speaking, “ I-I’m aware...” He paused before looking up at the thief, “ Are you ready to answer some of my questions?” 

" Wow, you are very eager for more answers just like that? Alright, fine, fine, I'll toss you a bone... You get 3 more because I'm such a nice guy~!" They cocked their head, probably giving a sly wink to the detective. 

Shuichi was relived he would get more answers before their deal had fully taken affect, definitely noting that they probably winked at him from under the mask. After a moment to think, the detective began to ask more questions, “ Before you mentioned something about a ‘him’. ‘Fixing him’, ‘make a sling for him’... who exactly is this other person you were talking about?” 

The grinning fox let go of him once more, tapping their mask, making a subtle and soft clinking noise, " The one who keeps an eye on me. The only one who was there with me. The one that I carry~. I mean upupup-after reading up on the monsters, it stated they take something~!" They cackled a bit, back into the more broken tone, " They were going to take him, she grabbed hold and part of him got smashed, crushed, sliced, torn, mashed, crunched, squished! Lifted the machine of death, snagged that half, let me keep the other half~! He was so torn up-so much hope taken away-such despair." He put a gloved hand to the side of his head, emotions trying to swing at him again. 

Shuichi thought for a moment, thinking about what he could mean before it clicked. The stuffed bear he carried with him practically everywhere... that would explain why the color was half and half. Probably. It was best to get his other question out of the way, and quickly. It seemed like the leader’s emotions were getting to him somewhat... “ So, if you know they take something... what did they leave behind for you?” 

They gave out a huff of hot air, " Well I know that now, I didn't know shit as an idiotic weak little kid... They left behind a little something. I had to help him cover his intestines'~!" He picked the checkered scarf's tip with a thumb and finger, rubbing the texture of the glove against it. If Shuichi had to guess, he had taken the scarf, trying to create a makeshift sling, to keep in the plush and soft stuffing as best he could. 

The story aside, this was actual proof that the crime was performed by the Madarai brothers... something was left behind and something was stolen. This along with a testimony would be sure to reopen the case and expose the truth of what happened... But Shuichi didn’t know was if he wanted to put the other through all of that again, or if they even wanted to reopen past wounds. So, with his last question out of this batch, he had asked, “ If you had the chance to put Tengan behind bars... would you take it?” 

The masked leader leaned away from Shuichi, too stuck in his own little world, too stuck in the past, too stuck in his own mask. They went silent again. It was easy to tell that they must have had a terrified or broken face behind their protective grinning shell. They spoke up softly, " Would it even matter anymore?" 

Shuichi looked up at the silent leader who was sitting on top of him, not sure about how to reply to the question that was asked of him, or if he should even reply at all...so, after a small pause Shuichi looked up at the grinning mask to get through to the broken face underneath and spoke, “ Well... that’s up for you to decide.” 

" He'd make you disappear. He'd make me vanish. He'd rule this town..... I don't want to be alone again. Not everything that I've worked so hard for. I can't let everything be taken from me again. I-If that happens... I don't think I'll ever be able to heal." It wasn't that the smaller boy didn't trust the detective. He rather not have him involved in the past, the past that they crawled out of as another person. 

Shuichi had nodded softly in response, understanding what the other had meant and could understand his point of view. Though it would bring justice to those who rightfully deserved it... the detective didn’t want to ruin anything the other had worked so hard to build and push behind him. So this gathering of information he was doing... it was not purely because he wanted to know more about the fox masked leader and nothing more. “ Okay.” Shuichi replied, a soft and understanding smile on his face. “ Now. What game do you want to play?” 

The other was caught up in a daze of emotions again, or more likely thinking about Tengan. Thinking about what the detective wanted to know his opinion. Thinking, thinking, thinking... Would it even matter if Tengan was behind bars? Why would he be sent there anyways? All he did was be a shitty father figure and sent the misunderstood child to a loony bin. Why did that warrant him to be arrested? " ... Why do you want him in jail...?" Seemed as thought the clever leader hadn't clicked together the reason. He wasn't thinking on who hired the brothers... Would it really help to answer him truthfully right now? Or give a soft lie and hold it for later? 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when the other had asked why he would want Tengan in jail, the thought clicking for him just now that the leader didn’t know the full extent of the truth. Conflicting thoughts ran through his head, trying to figure out if he should answer him truthfully in a state like this or to feed him a lie... it would go against what Shuichi’s been saying if he had lied to him, but he also didn’t know how much more the emotionally frazzled leader could take at the moment. He thought about it long and hard before speaking softly, “ Well... from what you described he can be convicted for child abuse.” 

The little fox leaned away to think, " What... From a few hits and neglection from the past? Heh, maybe if she was still here, I could. I'm not under his name anymore. I'm under someone else's, though I'm legal to be a young adult. Not like it's any different from my uncle is it? People tried catching him too. And look where I ended." 

Shuichi nodded softly, glad that the other had seemed to buy into the lie for now. He didn’t need to know truly what had happened... or at least, not right now. He gave the other a small and awkward smile before leaning his hand up and scratching his him softly, “ Yeah, I guess so...” 

The leader shook their head, " As for a game however... I'll let you pick~! Since no one is here, you get some more options, upupupup~!" They put their hands up to the mask's smile and sinister grin, chuckling as their shoulders bounced a bit with the laughs. " We can play a guessing game. Maybe a game of wits? A battle? A game to see what makes you tick? Hmmm... Perhaps one that involves making you scream~? Decision, decision... Just a name a game you'd like, I'm just giving a few ideas~." 

Shuichi had thought for a moment, not sure of what kind of game to play with the other if he was being completely honest. The detective looked up at the leader before speaking, “ Well isn’t it something that you should choose? This is the part of the deal that you wanted, so... thanks for the offer, but I think I’d be much more at ease with asking you these questions if you picked the game.” 

" Well, minds kinda' muddled at the moment. Not use to emotions ya' know?" Though given the position of being in charge, Kokichi really didn't know what to do. He was only ever given power when he slid the mask on, and that was only meant to intimidate people, tell what needed to be done with D.I.C.E., and to fool police. " You're lucky I don't have any of those knock out rags, or I could have just knocked you out and you wouldn't recall any of this." He was hesitating as he played it cool, tapping the mask's pristine white chin. 

Shuichi had internally sighed as the leader seemed to have no idea what game to play either. The detective had thought for a moment, recalling the list of games the other had mentioned previously. “ Well...” He spoke softly to bridge the silence, “ How about we play a game of hide and seek then? It seems simple enough...” 

The thief waggled his finger, " Nope, nu-uh. I gave you a chance, you didn't take it. Changed my mind since you couldn't make up yours~!" They snickered, hands swiftly moving back to Shuichi's resting wrists, taking them up above his head. Before Shuichi could question, he heard a distinct click-Oh... The trickster had managed to pick pocket his cuffs and put them on the detective... Great. And to make matters worse, there was suddenly a glint the thief was removing from their pocket. The inspected the sharp instrument before looking down at him, " Don't worry, this isn't for you... Unleeeess you want it to be~" 

It was at that moment that Shuichi noted that he probably should have just given up a random answer or made up his mind quickly... Sure, he was worried about the handcuffs restraining him but now he was wore worried about the sharp instrument that the masked thief had brought out. Somehow, the sentiment that it wasn’t meant for him made him even more worried. “ Then what’s it for...?” The navy haired detective asked. 

" For putting away silly~! Unless well, you'd rather get stabbed by it accidentally Detective, upupupu~!" The boy behind the mask giggled out, putting the knife and several other things that may prove harmful onto the table near them. " Don't need you getting nicked up, right? Since no ones here for the time being, I've picked the game of how long can you last until I make you scream my name~!" 

Shuichi had widened his eyes softly when the other had shared what game that the two would be playing. This didn’t sound like it would be a very fun game if it was meant to make Shuichi scream... but then again, he would have to think how bad it would be if the one conducting the game had just put all of his potentially dangerous objects out of the way. Either way, he would have to play along with the game in return for the questions he got. Fair was fair. “ O-Okay...?” He had asked softly. “ Are there any rules to the game, despite the obvious?” 

" Mmmm... Nope~! Not at all, if you wanna' chicken out, just say 'stop' or something, I don't know. Shit that makes people stop in their tracks ya' know?" He pushed his mask up only to show his mouth, biting the tip of one of the gloves and pulling it off, so the now freed pale hand could remove the other glove. The gashed finger was still wrapped up, healing from the other day. With the gloves tossed aside he leaned down and began to fuss with the detective's shirt, grin running wide under the permanent one from the mask. Shuichi had looked up at him, a bright blush spreading across his face while the other’s grin grew across their face. He watched as the leader’s fingers had started to mess with his shirt, the embarrassment of it alone making him want to scream. But it wasn’t like this was the first time the person under the mask had seen what was under his shirt, right? 

" Ya' know it's funny. Always thought about being with a detective. Not with one of those old, washed up guys though. But someone a lot better. Not gonna' lie, which is a first, I think I found a decent one~." The leader giggled, this was so vastly different than the fragile Kokichi that Shuichi had encountered recently. The mask really did make a difference when put on. The thief leaned down after unbuttoning the dark shirt, making use of precious time that he had. He cupped Shuichi's cheek, taking him into a passionate kiss. It was different but at the same time not... It was weird. Even if the feeling was different yet not, the navy haired boy still leaned into his passionate kiss and had returned it while fluttering his eyes shut softly. The feeling of the kiss along with the compliment from a few seconds prior had the detective’s head in a slight tizzy, making the tint of red on his cheeks spread and grow brighter. 

The fox pulled away and gave out another joyful giggle, his hands still holding onto Shuichi's cheeks, " Awww, you look adorable when you blush like that-which by the way, is a lot. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone~! You can trust me." He lowered himself down to caress his hands across the detective's chest while putting his mouth onto Shuichi's neck, sucking on it as if were some type of sweet candy. Shuichi didn’t have any time to say something in response to the thief from the compliment that felt more like teasing than anything. He was cut off short by the feeling of his neck being sucked on by the other’s lips, quickly closing his mouth shut and biting on his lips as a preemptive barrier for any noise. He also clenched his hands slightly while they were bound by the cuffs, trying to find on a pillow or a sheet he could grab onto. 

Unlike the normal Kokichi, the leader did give him much closure as his slender hands slid down Shuichi's sides, dragging the nails by a graze but not a full on dig. The sly fox finally let go off the skin that he had been tending to like a damn leech and started to pepper kisses around Shuichi's crook of the neck. If this wasn't enough, he bravely started to grind against the hand cuffed detective below him. The sudden attention to Shuichi's body had made the detective’s breath hitch in his throat softly, forcing him to let out a soft gasp in response before his breaths began to get quicker. His hands had clenched even tighter, his wrist pulling away from each other slightly and resisting against the handcuffs. This definitely wasn’t like the normal, or should he say the other Kokichi. This time, he had taken almost complete control of the situation, rather than last time. 

The hands wandered down to the waist, finally going to hover above his thighs before massaging them. The leader gave his skin a rest from his mouth for a brief moment before trailing his tongue down to Shuichi's chest, taking a harsh nip of skin so he could retort more, " Gonna' give up~?" 

Shuichi had felt a small shiver go up his spine when he had felt his tights be massaged by the other’s hands as well as when his tongue dragged down to his chest. He tensed up slightly from the nip to his skin, his face a bright red as he shook his head from side to side at his retort. “N-No..” The detective had mumbled quietly in response. 

" Mmm, shame for you, none for me though~!" The creation of Kokichi made himself up to be only chuckled out before unzipping the matching colored pants and sliding a hand down under the waistline. All while the owner of said hand went to start tending to the other crook of Shuichi's neck, planting lips on him to leave behind more hickeys. The detective had gone back to trying to bite his own lip as a preventative measure while he felt the other’s hand slip down under the waistline of his pants all while attending to the other side of his neck. He had managed to find a sheet on the bed to grab onto, the fabric tightly squeezed between his fingers as he looked up at the ceiling in a comfortable embarrassment.The small leader's hand shifted under his boxers while the other hand clawed down his pants just above the detective's knees. He nonchalantly started to play around with his hostage gently. He was being lewd but, hey it wasn't like he was doing anything rough-Well that was until he found a good part of the shoulder to sink his teeth into. What the hell was with him and biting?! 

Shuichi’s eyes widened when the other’s teeth had sank into his shoulder, letting out a soft exclamation of slight pain but quickly cutting himself off by closing his mouth tightly and closing his eyes. It wasn’t like the bite had felt completely bad, the sensation had just thrown him off guard a little along with the hand that had found it’s way into his boxers. The slightly shorter boy held onto him, but didn't bite down any harder, just staying there while his hands shifted Shuichi out of his boxers and slowly feel him up. Finally the teeth of the fox let go and let his tongue slip out to lap up a very small amount of blood from the broken skin. Shuichi had bit his lip and shivered slightly as a reaction to the other licking at the broken skin that he had just created on his shoulder, tilting his head upwards and to the side to allow the other more room to do as they pleased. The detective’s back arched up slightly into his hands as they slowly felt him up, leaning into the touch just a little bit. 

The sly leader let out a heat of breath that Shuichi could hear, going back to nibbling along his shoulder, making way to his jawline. All the while one hand slipped away to grip the navy haired boy's hip, digging his thumb and rubbing it in circular motion as the other hand wrapped around Shuichi, slowly running that thumb on the tip. The fox then moved up to steal some breath from the detective, taking him into a kiss, snipping at the bottom of his lip with his canines to gain better accesses to Shuichi's mouth. The detective had gasped softly and tried to restrain any other noise that he would have made at the sensations that he felt from the other’s hands, his breath quickly cut off by the kiss he had received along with the few nibbles to the bottom of his lip. His wrists had naturally pulled apart slightly while gripping onto the sheets the clanking of the metal cuffs sounding in the background. He moved his lips into the kiss with his lips parted slightly, hot breaths leaking from his mouth onto the other’s lips. 

The other pulled away, panting lightly, letting his breath collide with the detective's. He had gotten really worked up, having to lift the one hand that was teasing his hips to wipe off any amount of saliva left near his mouth. " You're really stubborn... I like that." He said between pants before giving one of those grimacing smiles that showed nothing but chaos seeping out from behind teeth. " Lets see if this'll work~." He had probably winked, but with the red and black eyes looking below at Shuichi, it was hard to say. The leader's agile hand moved up and grabbed hold of the chains of the cuffs, yanking them back to pull Shuichi up into a rough kiss. The hand that was busy toying with him started to pump him slowly but rather hard, the thumb leaning in more on the edge. Shuichi had clenched his fists slightly, loosing grip of the sheet that he had been using for support when the chains of the cuffs had been pulled around. The feeling of the hand that had been toying with him starting to move along with the rough kiss he had been given had started to make his head feel all clouded and fuzzy. The navy haired boy had involuntarily let a soft high pitch moan slip out into the rough kiss, temporarily loosing control of the sounds that had escaped him. 

The leader giggled almost uncontrollably after pulling away from the detective's lips, breathy chuckles being felt on Shuichi's skin. The little thief began to pump a tad harsher and still going at an agonizingly slow pace, just so he could watch Shuichi squirm. This defiantly was not the Kokichi he had dealt in the past, he was dealing with Leader of D.I.C.E. Sly, manipulative, charismatic, and pretty damn devious. " You know, I could make this worse and make this game impossible or hurt, buuut you're an exception~! I like how you sound, upupup~!" Shuichi looked up at him with his eyelids slightly droopy, a red flush spread across his face and his lips still parted while heated pants had began to flow out of his lips with the words of the one on top of him ringing through his head. He had clenched his hands slightly, his toes beginning to curl at the painfully slow movement of the leader’s hand. He had tried his best to conceal or restrain any noise his body was tempted to make, not wanting to let the other boy get what he wanted out of it right away. Sure, the leader was very different than the Kokichi he was use to seeing, but that also meant Shuichi would react in a different way as well. Which, in this situation, meant trying to withhold any noise or signs of squirming under the other’s hand as a slight defense against the fox’s sly nature. 

The mask tilted along side the wearer's head, " Still going strong, huh? Wow, didn't know you'd hold back this much! I might have to get desperate..." He trailed off, the glinting red eye lighting up, having it scan over the nearby knife. " But I don't think that'd be very nice now would it?" He knew Shuichi wasn't going to answer back, Kokichi was too far gone in his own little world, the world where he built himself as some inevitable force, yet still hanging on to not actually harm the detective. The fox let go of Shuichi momentarily only for the now freed hand to unzip his own pants, feverishly pushing them down. Before Shuichi knew it he was grabbed hold again but also with the leader as well, thin hand keeping them together as best they could. Then began the tedious pace along side the other, making the fox mask pant out and gasp. Shuichi had widened his eyes only slightly when he had felt the slow and teasing pace of the leader’s hand hold them both together. The feeling had caught the detective off guard, causing a soft moan to slip out through his lips as he looked up at the ceiling in embarrassment. He mentally cursed at himself, wanting to have not let a noise slip but his body just couldn’t seem to help it at the moment. Shuichi’s body also began to twitch softly from the feeling the smaller boy was giving him, toes curling and hands tending and relaxing in the grip of the cuffs from the slow friction. 

The leader panted a bit more, shuddering from the pleasure he was putting them both through, soon making him give up on being slow, picking the pace up but also pumping them both a bit harder. He gritted his teeth, desperate to to dig into something. A fair amount of fog filled his head, removing a bit of the self control he had, eventually clutched onto the chains, making Shuichi be pulled up more, unintentionally bringing heated lips together again. The leader-or rather Kokichi hadn't even registered that it was himself who tugged Shuichi to him, automatically going in for a rather clumsy and sloppy kiss while he started to buckle down from how sensitive he really was. Shuichi had practically melted into the sloppy kiss, not expecting it all of a sudden but definitely not shying away from it. He had shivered from the quickened pace, the pleasure that he was being given making him moan against Kokichi’s lips and flutter his eyes closed. He leaned his hips up into the other’s hand, his head getting more cloudy with the faster the pace of his hand went. 

The leader's hold on the metal chain shook unstably, making the metal clack and rattle with itself. Kokichi pulled away, his arm and position finally giving way, making him suddenly shift down to where Shuichi was back laying on the bed, while his hand wound itself with the thin chain, successfully wrapping it around his hand, grabbing out for something to hold. Which meant Shuichi could finally grab hold onto his hand that was clenching up. Kokichi was soon bent over, resting his head and some of his chest onto Shuichi's quivering chest. He was much more sensitive to touch, feelings easily ripping down his fierce persona, making him whine instead of the detective. Shuichi had blinked his eyes open when the other had pulled away, feeling his hand in reach between the chains he was pulling on and wrapped around. So, the navy haired boy took the opportunity and had grasped onto Kokichi’s hand tightly before glancing down at him bent over and curled up on his chest. So much for making Shuichi make noises... the teasing leader had seemed to have used his own tactics against himself. Shuichi had heard the noises the other was making while panting out heavily and letting a few soft noises of his own slip, his guard lowering down since Kokichi’s guard and persona had seemed to lower as well. 

Kokichi slipped out of a hard and quick pace and went all in, just to speed up, bitterly cursing to himself under unstable breaths the flowed onto the detective's chest, shaking as his hand continued. The hand in Shuichi's clutch clenched around, nearly making his knuckles white or at the very least paler than they were. The trickster was muttering indistinctive grumbles, obviously angry at himself for trying something stupid when he was trying to get the other to yelp out instead. The mask was still up, but was now in a strain, getting onto himself about being weaker then he had been built. Shuichi had heard the grumbles coming from the other, gripping onto his hand tighter as the pace of his hand had sped up. The navy haired boy had gulped down his pride for a moment to try and get the leader to try and stop being angry with himself over all of this. So, in the next few seconds when the pace of the other’s hand had begun to speed up, the noises that were coming out of his mouth had become more louder and came out sounding more like whimpers than anything, but still not to the fullest. 

For all Kokichi knew, they were genuine but his body was giving out from how damn fragile he was to certain touches and in a moment the mask had cracked under pressure. Shuichi couldn't see the face, but given the only thing he saw was the mouth of the fox was gritting teeth before finally giving up, letting out a yelp and moan. The detective felt him let go as a sudden splatter began to creep around his abdomen. Even with Kokichi laying on him, panting heavily, he was still continuing to help Shuichi get off, though much slower and weaker now. Shuichi had panted while the other kept moving his hand, not too far behind the other. A few seconds later, the navy haired boy had let out a sharp gasp followed by a soft moan as a wave of warmth spread through his stomach then slowly subsided. Shuichi panted our softly as he looked down at Kokichi who was laying on him, giving the hand the he was holding onto a more gentle grip than before as the both of them had laid there. 

Kokichi riding out everything lifted the used hand and with a flick of the wrist the key appeared-how the fuck did he do that? Well, anyways, he fumbled with it for a good moment before Shuichi's hands were free, letting the cuff and chains clatter onto the bed. The smaller boy tried getting up but just couldn't find any strength to do so, and rested on the other's chest panting while the mask lay at a strange angle so he could breath more efficiently. " I-I guess... I u-underestimated you..." He said slowly, panting between a few words. 

Shuichi had moved his hands, rotating his wrists to stretch them softly before softly moving one of his arms down and laying it across the other who was resting on his chest. He glanced down at the smaller boy before giving him a soft smile through heavy breaths, “ I-I guess... you did...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We both honestly didn't know what to do, so... Yeah, instead we did this... cuz kokichi is weird like that


	42. Love Forever, Love Has Freely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get in bitches, we're going shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hamsters know all... And can sense incoming danger, Will Robinson

After a while of resting to regain strength from his wobbly legs, the thief reached into his belt's pouch, wiping the mess away thoroughly and discreetly as possible, shoving the wipes into the trash and getting himself ready to flee like always. " Detective... Before I leave, I'd like you to know one thing... I'm more than just two people." He didn't mean literally, but rather figuratively... There was Kokichi, the mischievous panta imp. D.I.C.E.'s leader, the little tyrant who put claim over the town. Tajako, the boy who had been wrongfully accused and thrown into a bin to be forgotten. Akihito, the child who grew up being happy only to crack and fall under despair's influence. Kimishun Daisachi, the one who was molded into what Kokichi was today, slowly and painfully sewn together in the institution. And a mysterious scared and lonely child which Shuichi had barely gotten any information. A child who had a rough start in life, being forced to live with his aunt and uncle, suffering burns on his pale back, being left out in the cold... Who was this child Kokichi shattered into, the one who used his teddy bear to speak for him due to being so broken? 

While the detective wanted to know more about that part of the boy’s life and figure out more about what happened there, that was definitely another story for another day. In response to him, Shuichi had nodded and given the other a soft smile, “ Yeah,” He had spoken, giving the one who was about to take off for the night a simple response, “ I know.” The leader let out a soft sigh, pushing up the mask in order to give the detective a a simple curt kiss on the forehead before vanishing out the window, footsteps trailing on the roof. 

Now rethinking given information... What the hell was Shuichi going to do to get those innocent people off from their wrongful charges? He had to find a way that would be believable to actually get the charges recalled... somehow, telling Haiji and Hajime that a D.I.C.E. member came into his room and told him exactly how they managed to pull it off didn’t seem convincing enough. Maybe he just goes in there tomorrow and tries to find evidence that everyone on the suspect list has either donated or given blood in the past or recently. That seemed like a more viable option... but there was always a part in the back of Shuichi’s mind that asked if what he was doing or going to do was enough. It had to be in this situation, because Shuichi didn’t know any other way to try and get those people off of their charges. But, there wasn’t anything else he could do tonight. So, the detective laid back on his bed and sighed softly, putting a hand on the spot on his forehead where the masked thief had put his parting kiss. 

The sun had risen up from sleeping it's self and Shuichi was greeted by a soft nudge on the shoulder. When he looked over, his amber eyes met the brilliant red of Maki. Maki, even given her expressionless facial structure gave a soft smile, " Hey. Kaede's filling in for me for a few hours. If Kaito doesn't have anyone in his room he gets..." She paused, " Well, you know how he tends to get." Even in early childhood, Shuichi knew Kaito would get impatient for being in the nurse's office. " Came to pick some things up, buy some stuff and Kaede said to check up on you as well. You doing okay?" 

Shuichi had mentally answered Maki’s question in his mind, reasoning that he probably wouldn’t have been that good if Kokichi hadn’t showed up last night. Kaede probably knew that, and that’s why she wanted to have Maki check in on him. But, the detective had slowly sat up on his bed and gave the dark haired girl a small smile along with a nod. “ Yeah, I’m doing good. And... how’s Kaito doing? I would go and see how he’s doing myself but I’m not sure if I’ll have any free time today to do it with how hectic everything is right now... So thanks for staying with him.“ 

She gave a slightly skeptical look, wrinkling her nose, " He's doing fine, just antsy and being a baby for being in the hospital-Look, I don't normally get like this, but have you washed recently? Because I smell some sweat on you-or something... Then again Kaito smells all the time." She gave out a sigh, shaking her head. " Anyways, it's my duty to see him through, though I just hope the kids are doing okay-... Hmm, perhaps you could check on them if you're not overly busy. If not, I'll let Kaede know." She said, taking her time to exit the room, rushing off a bit in an odd manner, sensing she might have burned breakfast. Shuichi had watched as Maki rushed off after leaving the room, pausing for a moment before leaning down and giving his underarm a small sniff. Yeah, he probably should take a shower. He thought that he doesn’t normally get this bad. But then again, he didn’t normally-... Shuichi had a soft blush on his face as he made his way to the bathroom, adding a quick shower in with his normal routine before making his way downstairs.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

At the close apartment rooms where the quirky and odd twelve people lived together in a tight bundle, came the gentle bug lover, walking out from his room to walk over to a bandaged Kazuichi, a loud Miu, and an uneasy Gundham as they talked before setting out for the day. Gundham looked up with his normal eye and scarred one, " Hmm?" He inquired why the giant was going to them. " Why do you have such an interesting face Gonta?" 

" Uhm..." Gonta rubbed a large hand behind his neck, not really knowing how to correlate in response to what had happen. " Gonta not mean to be rude, but Kokichi smells funny. Gonta knows he went out last night, but he smells... Strange." At this point the tall stoic young adult raised a brow, unsure of what Kokichi had ran into other than wet snow. 

Miu took a drink of whatever concoction was in her mug before making a typical Miu remark in reply to the gentle giant’s question. “ Pfft, Cockichi probably just got laid or something!” She leaned back in her chair, not knowing how right her statement may have actually been this time, “ What did he smell like, huh? Salty? Sweaty?” 

The life-like Tarzan thought for a moment, nodding, " Kokichi smells sweaty, wet from snow, and something not even Gonta can place..." He closed his eyes, raising a hand to his chin as the elbow of it rested on in his other large palm. " Gonta never smell this before. Not oil, not grease, not trash, not food, not candle, not deodorant, not animal. Gonta not know." 

Gundham sipped his coffee in silence, furrowing his brows to think what the large built man would be going on about. " Hrm... Interesting, is he awake?" Gonta shook his head letting the long brown flowing hair follow behind his movements. 

Kazuichi glanced over at Gundham, raising a brow softly, “ What? Are you gonna go smell him or something?” He asked, “ Because, I know we’re kind of all weirdos... but that’s a little weird.” 

Miu laughed out loud, pounding her palm on the table, “ Hahaha! Wow, I didn’t know there was a smell that Gonta couldn’t place! And I didn’t know that Gund-weenie was into that sort of thing!” 

The tall lean man gave a disdainful glare to the other two, sighing to himself, hoping Rantaro would visit their apartment after talking with other roommates. " No I am not going to smell him. That's asinine. Crimson Steel Elephant Maga-Z!" He called out having a small hamster with a chipped ear skitter out from his velvet scarf, run down his arm and clean it's face. " Go check in on Kokichi." Once the hamster was done brushing it's fur it scurried down his leg and ran into the bedroom, squeezing under the door's gap. 

Gonta smiled, giggling lightly, " Gundham's hamsters are so helpful and cute." Gundham lowered in his seat, hiding a flustered look under his scarf. He had learned the hard way that raising his voice to the other was frowned upon and instead just stayed quiet, letting some of his pride scrape over. 

The pink haired boy had looked over at Gundham, grinning softly when the other hadn’t commented on Gonta calling the hamsters what they were. “ Yeah, those hamsters are pretty useful!” He teased, not seeming to know fully that he didn’t seem to have the same protection that Gonta did. 

It was at that time that the green haired Mom had walked through the apartment door, intending to visit with everyone there before they had made their way to whatever plans they had for the rest of the day. “ Hey gang!” He called out while closing the door behind him, letting everyone else know he was there. 

The 'dark lord of animals' shot an icy glare at the other boy, making him move from his scarf and show a slight snarl with his mouth, " For your information... They are the four dark devas of destruction, not mere hamsters you blatant fool. Either you get that through your skull, least it be thrown asunder to the devouring force of the one they call 'Gustavia'..." He quietly threaten while Gonta was soon distracted by the family head entering. Souda didn’t really know who this ‘Gustavia’ was... but he didn’t really think he wanted to know who that was after how menacing the threat sounded. 

The giant gave a wide smile, " Hello Rantaro. We we're just talking about Kokichi. Gundham sent his cute little hamster to check on him. Be careful though, Kokichi smells funny." 

Rantaro has approached Gonta who had talked to him, looking a bit concerned and confused about the ‘funny smell’ that the bug lover was talking about, “ He smells funny...?” If it was something like wet snow or sweat then Gonta probably would have been able to place it... “ Can you describe the smell at all?” 

Gonta gave a shrug, " Gonta not even know. Gonta never smell it before it. Though Miu thinks it weird for Gonta to be able to smell things." Before the avocado could got onto the obnoxious yet sniveling girl not to poke fun at the gentle giant, the hamster rushed back, skittering up to Gundham's hand as he leaned to the side to scoop the messenger up. 

" What information have you gained?" The small hamster blinked with it's ears down and began to waddle about in place, making the handler sigh. " Very well. Invading Black Dragon, Cham-P arise!" A very large golden colored hamster tucked it's head out and carefully waddled down to the table's surface where Gundham placed the smaller one. " Okay, so why do you need another to help explain?" After a moment of examining the two while the others talked, Gundham had to put his battered wrapped up hand between them, " Maga-Z! What are you doing?! I have taught you to control yourself to copulate!" The smaller hamster chattered angrily, though it was just rubbing up against the cheery fatter hamster who just brushed it off. 

Miu cackled out, obviously finding the hamsters amusing considering the subject that was brought up, “ Ha! Guess there’s just some urges you can’t stop!” 

Rantaro didn’t really have the time to wait for Gundham to gain whatever information he could from the hamste- oh. Sure they were just hamsters... but from what Rantaro has seen, they’ve been really good at doing whatever Gundham had told them to do or conveying information to him. He just... hoped it was just hamsters being hamsters. “ I’m going to just go check on him.” Rantaro said with a sigh, scratching the back of his head and putting his hand on his hip before composing himself and walking to the bedroom, slowly opening the door and glancing inside. 

Meanwhile Gundham was exchanging some angry words with his pet, and getting nipped at, Gonta tilted his head like a puppy, " What copulate? Are they cooped up in your scarf?" Gundham gritted his teeth, relying on either of the other two to help would be zero at this point and just agreed with what the large young man has asked. 

In the room, Kokichi was huddled in his small tent, wearing his straight-jacket like attire that his small gang had crafted a while ago. The small leader was clutching his raggedy yet half pristine teddy bear within his arms. Small box and an old broken fox mask near him. He must have been thinking about them again... The green haired boy had seen these items strewn about enough times to know what the panta imp was thinking about before he slept... even though he had seen them multiple times, it still hurt to know he was hurting. However, Rantaro knew he had to talk to Kokichi about what had happened while he was out last night even if he was still sleeping. So, Rantaro had knelled down next to the small tent and had carefully and slowly pulled all of his hidden weapons out of the pockets in his leader uniform and tossed them gently off to the side. He called out to him from a few feet away, knowing better than to get close to him if he needed to wake him up. “ Hey, Kokichi. It’s Rantaro, we need to talk.” 

Kokichi stirred in his sleep, curling into his bounty of pillows and blanket before cracking his eyes open, " Huh-oh hey Rantaro." He mumbled sleepily, taking a look at his clock he kept inside the made up childish tent, " Mrmm, I still have an hour, let me slee-" He stopped himself as the sentence spread through his brain which was slowly waking up. He looked over to the green haired male and squinted, " T-Talk? We don't need to talk, it's fine. Whatever Saionji is saying I did, I didn't do it..." He turned his back to the other, letting out a sigh, more than ready to deal with what the fellow gremlin had tattled onto him about. The words 'We need to talk' was normally that or something worse, he really wished it wasn't something else... 

Rantaro sighed, sitting down right next to the small tent before starting up the potentially awkward conversation he really didn’t want to have. But maybe it had to be had? “ So, you went out last night, right? How did it go, where did you go?” He asked curiously, trying to ease into the conversation instead of going directly into it. 

The younger boy turned back around giving him a confused look as if he suspected something was afoul, " Wha-Yeah, I went out. It went well. I just dropped in on the detective. He's fun to toy with... Whhhy?" He didn't like where this was going. " Sides, he was upset. I didn't see him yesterday, I got worried-so what?" 

Even though he had asked Kokichi the question, Rantaro knew that this is what the panta imp would probably reply with. Letting out a deep sigh, he began speaking, “ Look... Gonta said that you smelled funny. And Gunham’s hamsters suggested that you smelled like... I know things like that are personal but, I’m genuinely concerned. Did you two...” He trailed off softly, “ Are you two ‘together’?” 

The smaller boy suddenly felt much smaller, he could never put up a mask in front of Rantaro, not anymore. In public yes, but never in private. This in turn made gulp and curl more, shrinking as much as he could, not enjoying the idea of being looked down in concern. " ..... I am... But not 'him'. The detective doesn't know who 'he' is..." He bit his lip, knowing far too well the detective wouldn't cheat, as in getting with the leader... but Shuichi knew who he was. He just had to tell Rantaro that the detective didn't know who the foxy leader, make him think it was a different person and only with Kokichi. It was the only lie he could put up for their safety. Now that he thought about it, he trusted Shuichi, but he could easily been lying. Kokichi had been so damn desperate for feeling, maybe he did make a mistake. He had made many before. His eyes jolted around as he thought. 

Rantaro saw the other’s nervous demeanor when confessing his relationship with the detective. Sure, the green haired boy’s motherly instincts took over and alarms were ringing in his mind about how Kokichi had gotten together with someone he didn’t know for very long. But, it was someone that had managed to get close enough to Kokichi. Rantaro paused for a second, looking towards Kokichi with an earnest yet serious look on his face, “ Hey. I’m concerned for you, since you haven’t really gotten close with anyone like this before. Not to mention this quickly.” He paused yet again, letting his words sink in before speaking, “ That being said, I trust you.” 

Kokichi's toes curled up as he made himself into a small ball, he understood the other was just worried about him, that was his nature, especially coming from such a large family. But he was right, Kokichi had gotten close, which didn't warrant anything wrong. Just the length the two had gotten to know each other was rather short, which normally caused trouble and alarms. Kokichi was far too desperate and impatient to wait on things building. Well at least he was now, hell it had taken what seemed like an eternity for Rantaro to even become his friend. It had been easier with Fukawa and Nagisa, both broken and taking affection quickly. " Rantaro... You know I'm a liar..." 

Rantaro had lifted a brow at Kokichi’s statement, wondering what he could have meant by it. “ Yeah, I do know that.” He spoke, scooting closer, “ Doesn’t mean I trust the decisions you make any less.” 

A small sigh was let out, lavender eyes looking up to the chartreuse ones, " Thanks..." Something just wasn't settling right under his skin or his gut, " I hope I chose right for once is all." He couldn't afford to make another mistake. 

Rantaro nodded softly in response to Kokichi, “ I understand.” He spoke softly, trying to find words to reassure the other, “ From the little time I’ve seen the detective, he seems like an okay guy. And he’s good friends with Kaede, who has pretty strong positive morals. So, I think that says something too.” The green haired Mom cleared his throat softly, “ What I’m trying to say is, only you can know what’s good for you. So just do what makes you happy.” 

The other gave a faint childish pout, " You don't need to tell me to do what makes me happy. I'm the leader." He stuck out his tongue out at the other, finally getting back to his usual self-or at the very least what he made himself to hide away how sad and scared he constantly had flickering in the background of his mind.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

After getting a much needed bath to avoid his 'underlings' comments, he headed to the small diner, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes to see the two detectives at their usual spot. Hajime talking with the chef and Shuichi listening, more or less just kind of being there. Kokichi would have snuck over and scared them, but the bell above the door had already signaled his location, thus letting his eyes meet... someone he was actually in a relationship with. It felt so unreal to have someone like that... Shuichi had glanced back casually when the bell at the front entrance of the diner had rung, having done that for everyone who had walked in since the two detectives had sat down at the diner. Except, this time the person he was looking out for had walked through the door. When their eyes met, the first thing that Shuichi had done was give the other a big, heartwarming, and genuine smile. The navy haired boy couldn’t place exactly why, but he was just happy to see... his boyfriend. Just thinking about using that title for Kokichi could make Shuichi blush. 

Kokichi would have blushed and avoided eye contact like a girl at a ballroom dance, but he had already placed on his mask, which acted on instinct at this point, giving a toothy grin. Hajime was soon interrupted as the little gremlin skated right behind him and put an elbow on his back in order to rest his head in the leaning position. " Mooooorning detectives~! How are the cold cases freezing up today~?" He gave a soft smile to Shuichi as the other two couldn't see his face until Hajime turned around, missing the sly boy by the arm. The mask came back as he snickered out, watching Hajime get ruffled already. Shuichi knew that Kokichi just had to try and annoy Hajime by doing or saying something, it was just part of a routine now. But the soft smile he had given was definitely unexpected, yet still nice touch. It was like Kokichi had lifted up a piece of his mask for only Shuichi to see. It made him feel good. He had an endearing smile for a second before quickly realizing that he shouldn’t be making that kind of face when Kokichi was trying to-no, annoying Hajime. So, instead he gave a small smile along with a small sigh. 

Hajime groaned, his eye twitching slightly, " Good to see you too Kokichi..." He let out a stray sigh, " Though I will let you off this time." 

" Ohh whoa-what's this? What's the special occasion~?!" The purple imp smiled wide. 

" Well if you must know, Chiaki is going to be helping us toda-" 

" You know, maybe we could go on like a triple date or something." 

Hajime nearly spilt his coffee over his legs, staring dumbfounded at the boy, " ... W-What?!" A tinted blush spread through his cheeks. 

Kokichi scoffed, " Ya' know... Like a double date but triple. I mean there's me of course, you and her, your police buddy and the motorcycle meathead-" 

Hajime put his mug down on the counter harshly, " Nope, no, not gonna' happen." Shuichi had to agree on Hajime with this one. Sure a triple date might be fun, but with the group of people the Kokichi had listed off... it might get a little too all over the place for Shuichi to handle. But, he also didn’t know if Kokichi was teasing or not. Well, he was probably teasing like he normally did. But he couldn’t completely rule it out. The navy haired boy looked over at the purple haired trouble maker, giving him an awkward smile, “ What makes you want to go on a triple date Kokichi?” He asked. 

Kokichi chuckled, " That was a lie of course. It's funny seeing both of your reactions~!" Hajime gave a fierce scowl, reaching over, knowing Kokichi would just weave away from his grasp, just to make a small threat. " Nishishi~! Sorry to get your hopes up Mister Detective~!" 

Hajime let out a fair amount of a huff from his nose, " Teruteru, please... Control your employee..." 

The chubby chef had let out a disapproving sigh, pointing and waving a spatula at Kokichi and waving it around softly, “ Now, don’t you have better things to be doing while on the clock than annoying a paying customer? Go give attention to other customers, ya’ hear?” 

The mischievous waiter giggled out, giving an overly dramatic salute, " Yeeees sir~!" With an equally dramatic bow, he skated away to go fetch and serve the other customers. 

The brunette rubbed his temple, shaking his head slightly, " Lord... I-I... I don't know what you see in him." He muttered quietly, not disapproving his partner's choice, more of just questioning why. 

Shuichi had chuckled softly at Hajime’s reaction, hearing the soft mutter even though it was quiet. The navy haired boy honestly didn’t know himself why he had fallen so much for Kokichi... he guessed it was just a lot of small things about him that made him lovable, including the parts covered by masks that people normally didn’t get to see. “ Well...” Shuichi began to reply, “ That makes you and a bunch of other people I guess.” He was pretty sure that his roommates didn’t really like Kokichi a lot either, and definitely questioned his decision behind his back. A long with various other people who seemed to have come to dislike the troublemaker... but they hadn’t seen Kokichi like Shuichi had or knew what made him, him. That was the difference.” 

Once the two left the establishment, Kokichi made himself sparse and useful around the diner, mostly avoiding Teruteru's questioning of him finally finding someone-which many people wouldn't be able to fathom. Hajime started the car once his partner followed in and let the car hum for a moment to get some heat out, driving off to the station, " Well, we've got a few people to go ask after we pick up Chiaki. Where to first when we grab her? There's the gym and then there's the mall. If we're lucky, they'll be at the mall getting sport supplies... Considering some break every other week-it's long story." 

Shuichi had looked over at Hajime, almost forgetting that they had to go and confront the innocent names that had come up from the blood collected and tested from the scene, “ Um...I don’t have any preference really. What would we be doing there though exactly? Just questioning them...? Or something else?” Shuichi had wanted to try and clear their names before something bad was forced to happen to them... and if going to see them caused negative effects, he really wanted to try an clear their names first. 

" Just questioning until we can get a more proper lead. If they resist harshly-like Mondo or agree, they'll be on lock-down. Makoto's like that, but only due to being in the department, taking precautions, but thankfully he's got his sister to keep him in line. Me and Haiji went to speak to Korekiyo yesterday, guy seems clear. His sister helped bail him out along with Angie." He gave a heavy sigh recalling having to deal with Atua's wrath, before parking and entering the building. Ishimaru was strangely quiet for once, writing and filling out some papers. He looked up briefly before his eyes fixed themselves back down. Normally he'd spring forth and welcome them, but not this time. Hajime frowned and walked by to Chiaki and Kiibo. Shuichi had followed Hajime inside the building, definitely being unsettled by the now quiet Ishimaru but internalizing it and pushing his feelings down before being pulled into the same feeling he had yesterday. He was going to fix this... or, at least he hoped he could. 

Chiaki immediately got out of her usual groove of her chair and walked over, quickly grabbing the two boys by the shoulder and pushing them out with herself, a puffed up cheek visually appeared on her face. She was certainly angry or upset. Probably about the whole situation, and would rather not have to talk with their chief. She let out a loud sigh of breath, warm air flowing visibly in the cold. After clearing her throat and regaining her composure she smiled, " Hey Hajime, hey Shuichi." 

Shuichi had blinked a couple times, slightly stunned for a few moments after having been pushed out of the building after just arriving, the cold air of outside now nipping at his nose, “U-Um...” The navy haired detective began to reply, not really questioning anything that had just happened, “ Good morning.” 

She basically ushered the two back into the car, having it still warmed up from barley even resting as the two had walked in. Hajime gulped slightly, " I uh, guess we'll head to the mall..." He said nervously as Chiaki sat in the back with an upset puffed up cheek expression. " Did... Uh, something happen?" 

She gave a quick huff, " I know the potential suspects didn't do it... I have a theory but it's to early to know for sure." 

" Care to fill us in?" Hajime looked back as he backed up only to meet with a fierce yet adorable puffy face. " ... Nev-Nevermind." 

Shuichi had looked back at Chiaki, definitely wondering what her theory on the matter was. Could it be the same thing that he was setting out to do, proving it was because of stolen blood? It could be the case... but he didn’t know for sure. So, slightly following Hajime’s lead, he had looked forward and avoided eye contact with the frustrated girl before mumbling slightly, “ W-Well... I had a theory as well regarding the potential suspects.” 

The small girl in the back seat gave a small huff, making the brunette sigh, " She won't listen to reason at the moment, but I'll have a hea-AHHH!" Hajime flailed one hand to swat at Chiaki who had grabbed hold of his ear, pinching it. " Ahhh alright, alright! Shuichi, I'll listen afterwards man." He whined out, rubbing his ear as soon as it was released. 

Once at at the mall, Hajime took in a deep inhale before getting out and walking to the structure. Chiaki stayed behind a bit, putting a hand on the other detective's shoulder to whisper, " I need to talk to you in a few, don't mention it to Hajime please." Shuichi had glanced behind at Chiaki when he had heard the discreet whisper in his ear, the act catching him off guard slightly. The navy haired detective nodded in response, keeping the interaction discrete and hidden from Hajime like Chiaki had wanted. He did wonder what exactly she planned to talk to him about, and how she would keep it a secret from Hajime. But, he guess he would just have to wait and see. So he followed Hajime into the mall, bracing himself for what was to come. The trio made their way up to second floor, but upon heading to the sports store, Shuichi caught sight of three people he hadn't yet met. All three had more of a darker tone to them, two looking alike, aside from frame, face, and height. The first had a chocolate hair with a scrunchy of sorts, letting the ponytail wave side to side as they bounced around in a red jacket and short pants. The other girl's hair was curvy and wavy, also bouncing around while she wore small red skirt, and a plain white shirt that was a bit reveling. The last person was... Extremely large, with large muscles that'd put Mondo to shame. Massive scars around them, platinum long hair, a fierce look in their eyes, and donning a school girl uniform-.... wait what? There was no way THAT was a woman... To try and see if he was seeing things, Shuichi had blinked slightly and tried to clear his vision. But it didn’t change, he still saw the school girl uniform on the large and muscular woman. It was pretty impressive to say the least... 

Hajime got his booklet out and pen from a pocket that had hidden on his shirt, making way to the gaggle of girls-that one was a girl right? Chiaki yet again stayed behind and put an sleeved arm in front of the navy haired boy, " Wait." Her eyes crossed Shuichi, pulling him along to the side of the store's outside wall to whisper, " Shuichi, I wanted to ask you some things. As much as I love Hajime, he can be fairly stubborn, but more so, loyal. Loyal to the department." She frowned more than her usual sleepy expression. " I... Have a few theories. As much as I don't want it to be. But I think your uh... Boyfriend might be the leader of D.I.C.E. but also that he's the kid from the institution, as well as Tengan's 'son'. From what I've been able to scrounge up, certain things make sense." 

Shuichi had widened his eyes when Chiaki had explained what she had figured out, surprised for a moment that she was able to figure it out. But it wasn’t like there things were hidden very well... Shuichi was able to connect the dots, so it would make sense someone like her would be able to do it as well. But then came the decision on how much he could trust her. She seemed fairly trustworthy, but he definitely didn’t want something like last time happening. For a moment Shuichi was stunned, trying to figure out what to say. That’s when he decided he wanted to believe in Chiaki. Believing without logical reason she wouldn’t do any harm. Kaito must have influenced him more than he thought. Shuichi cleared his throat, trying to get her the information in a timely manner but also try and tell her he was trying to keep the whole thing on sort of a down low. “ W-Well...I haven’t seen the leader of D.I.C.E,’s face, so there’s no solid proof that Kokichi is the leader. However, I may have talked to them about that and they possibility pointed it to it being the truth.” He whispered first, trying to say that he hadn’t seen the leader’s face on purpose to try and keep evidence to a minimum. The next part he made his whisper as quiet as possible, “ But, on the other subject... he’s told me things that confirm it.” 

The girl gave a small warm smile, " Well, that's a bit reassuring. And, it's okay if you think I'd go against my words, but... I don't really plan to tell anyone-or not for a very long time. I talked with the janitor at the institution, Tengan, and some people at the library. But I can sure as heckles tell you, that thing that you caught on screen when we we're reviewing the security tapes with that janitor. I noticed it too, but I didn't say anything. That's why I went myself, and many things started to fit into certain places. And from what you've just told me, makes me trust you. Or you would have told Haiji right off the bat. Sides that..." She tugged her kitty hoodie on, " I think all of the victims have something in common. Considering it is blood, I know that Mondo and Makoto do donations." 

Shuichi was glad that she wouldn’t tell anyone about this soon. It seemed like placing in his trust in here was a safe bet after all. That being said, Shuichi had nodded to confirm all of the victims have something in common. “ Yes. I was talking to the leader last night. They stole blood packs from the bank and proportioned them into homemade bags wrapped around Kevlar under their clothes. I was going to try and get that across to Hajime so the innocent victims could have this off their record...” 

She nodded, " Sorry I interrupted you, but. I needed a chance to speak with you, and I'm not sure when I'd be given the time." She thought to herself, mind whirring around the words, " Hmm, I wonder how they knew the brother would have attacked, and why attack the orphanages of all places..." Now that she said that... Shuichi hadn't even thought about the reason. Why did he attack the children exactly? He had heard he wasn't on a hit... 

Could one of the children have been on a hit list or something of the like? Was the brother hired by someone to try and kill one of the children? But, by who? And which child? Could it be Nagisa, the one who had found pinned to the wall by the brother? That made the most sense, but why Nagisa? Who would want to target the orphan? If he remembered back to the scene that was at the orphanage, there might be something... Wait. The brother was asking Nagisa where someone was. Who were they asking about, and why would they assume Nagisa knew? Maybe Chiaki could help him sort this all out. “ Well... the brother wanted information from one of the children, Nagisa.” 

She furrowed her brow to try and untangle the puzzling mess, " Well... From what I've been able to read and heard, Nagisa use to be at the institution. If he had wanted information-..." She came to a small pause as e usual tired looking eyes actually widened, " Oh my god. He was trying to find out something about Kokichi-maybe like where he lived or something... I think." She scratched the top of her head, seeing if that had connected. It would have made sense, considering both he and Fukawa had known about him. He was trying to avenge his brothers by finally killing the hit from years before. 

Shuichi widened his eyes, the explanation that she gave making complete sense in his mind. He was glad that they had managed to stop the brother before he could do any permanent damage to Kokichi, or before Nagisa gave out any information about his whereabouts. “ That makes perfect sense.” He spoke softly, looking up at her, “ There’s no other Madarai brother out there that could be looking to hurt Kokichi, right?“ He spoke, now concerned for Kokichi’s well-being now that the subject was brought up. 

Chiaki shook her head, " Not unless the last one from the library decides to go off the deep end. But even then, his brothers never told him who hired them or their targets, and all of the rest are now dead-well I think. I'm not quite sure if the one who attacked is still recovering, or dead. I uh, didn't really care at the time." She said in slight guilt. " But all in all, that's what I've come up wi-" She ceased her words as her fairly pink hued eyes squinted to watch some rather brutish looking men were busy setting up a store they had rented out across from them. The men were rather burly, thuggish like, and had some distinct tattoos on the back of their arms that looked to be spreading from their backs, where a larger tattoo could be found. 

Shuichi had let his eyes trail over the large men that Chiaki’s attention had drifted off to, taking notice of the ratios in the back of their arms that spread to their backs. He didn’t like to stereotype, but their physique and those tattoos certainly attracted attention. The navy haired detective glanced over towards Chiaki, mumbling softly, “ Do you know who those guys are?” He thought since she was in this town longer than he had been, she would be the one who might know. 

The small girl shook her head, " No. But if I had to guess since their tattoos are most likely on their back, they're a part of the Yakuza. But I haven't seen those guys. Fuyuhiko normally informs Hajime if he gets new recruits and gives him details. Besides that, they don't usually wander outside of their area." She brought her fingers to her chin before a voice spoke above them both. 

A new low toned voice that Shuichi hadn't heard before, " Yes, I do not exactly enjoy the company, though I tend not to differ from the stereotypical nature of people. Never to judge a book by the cover as they say, but I feel a strange uncanny feeling near them." When the detective looked over his shoulder, he was greeted by the very large and muscle-bound woman who was stroking her chin like Chiaki, her eyes locked onto the group of men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only reason there was a smell is because neither of them took a bath or shower. Kokichi was too tired and Shuichi was too busy thinking.


End file.
